


Tenderly Touched by the Massively Muscled

by SandmanCircus



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Smut, Gore, Gratuitous nudity, Hades/Persephone AU, Minor Maka Albarn/Soul Eater Evans, ResBang 2017, resbang, too many fart jokes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 04:16:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13068939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SandmanCircus/pseuds/SandmanCircus
Summary: (Hades/Persephone AU) One fateful day, a much needed visit away from the underworld brings Eruka in direct contact with the glistening hot bod of Free. She falls immediately in love with his sweet pecs and eventually he returns to Hades with her. Unfortunately, Zeus isn’t happy that her flower-powered captive escaped and threatens violence if he isn’t returned. Between Free's continued seduction and Zeus's threat of war, Eruka has her hands full. Freeruka.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Woo resbang 2017! I would like to thank my awesome betas for dealing with me and doing an amazing job in making this fic readable: Proma, Silly, Makapedia, and Howl.
> 
> Also thank you to my wonderful artists, Pere and Sojustifiable, who did an AMAZING job drawing artwork for this fic

Eruka plucked a flower growing from a thick bed of grass beside her. Frowning, she examined it, the blushing pink of the petals, the delicate stem, the sweet fragrance it produced. She then watched it hiss and recoil at her touch, shriveling and curling within itself until nothing remained but blackened char crumbling to dust. The remains blew from her hand with the next passing breeze.

She gave an unimpressed hum at the spectacle before falling back onto the grass, unconcerned as it, too, began to die at the first brush of her skin. The dying blades tickled her skin, but Eruka paid the sensation no mind as she stretched out her fingers and toes as far as they would go. She released the stretch with a contented sigh.

The foreign desire to laugh bubbled up in her chest, and Eruka couldn't fight the grin she gave the sky.

To love was certainly an interesting feeling.

If someone had asked her several years ago what it meant to truly love, Eruka would say that after several thousand years it was nothing special. But now she knew that she hadn't ever truly loved. Not really.

Her first breath hadn't been taken until she'd seen _him_.

As if in response to this thought, the sound of splashing water could be heard from afar. With an eager squawk, Eruka rolled onto her belly. Sure enough, a familiar body could be seen in the distance, splashing gaily through the river.

Rising to a crouch, Eruka lifted the hem of her dress and sped to a nearby tree. The bark crackled and recoiled from her touch as she leaned around the trunk, but Eruka ignored it, her eyes focused solely on the glistening, tan back in the distance. Her knees went weak at the sight.

"Hera's _swaying teats,_ that's hot."

Something else was swaying too, and normally Eruka might feel guilty about spying on a naked, bathing person, but after several visits she'd soon learned that the man never wore a stitch on him.

Thank Hera for that.

With baited breath, she watched as he dunked down into the water and took the opportunity to creep forward to a tree several feet closer. Just as she stooped down behind it, he erupted from the stream, flinging back his head as water cascaded around him. Eruka dug her nails into the tree bark.

She'd found the glade by accident several years ago one day when she'd taken reprieve from the damning isolation of the underworld. The forest was tucked away, so completely concealed by magic that Eruka doubted even she would have noticed its existence had she not literally walked into its borders. It was curiosity - coupled with sheer boredom - that made her investigate the forest, and in it she'd found _him_.

He'd simply been standing there, glorious and golden, and suddenly her heart was his. Ever since, she had returned each day to the forest to gaze at him, heartsick and in love.

From that point on she had done everything in her power to get as much info as possible on him. As Hades, she got a certain level of intel from the souls who were drawn to her. A few humans had told her of a pervert who lived in a forest near them, infamously nude, who was under the protection of Zeus. The spirit of a tree taken by fire had complained about a nude human rubbing his rear against its bark to ease an itch. The flowers, however, were the most informative. They lavished him with praise, even when their demise was the result of his quite substantial behind sitting on them.

A swaying flower brushed against her calf, pulling her from her thoughts. At the sensation, Eruka turned just in time to see the decay take hold. Like every time a living entity touched her skin, the petals wilted and curled inward, shriveling until they crumbled and fell. Before the wrinkled remains could fall on her toes, Eruka tucked her feet beneath her dress, away from the evidence of her touch. She stared at the blackened husk a moment longer than necessary before pulling her gaze away.

There were far preferable things to focus on, she reminded herself, adjusting her crouch to ease the ache from her legs. When her eyes returned to the river, ready to feast on the tanned backside of the bathing Adonis, he was gone.

Eruka frowned, craning her head around the tree to see more of the river. Where had he…?

"Hello," said a voice, pleasant, if a bit husky.

Eruka screamed, swinging her leg out low and wide to connect with the shins of her attacker.

"Goddamn fucking shit!"

Eruka watched her Adonis fall in horror. It was as if he descended in slow motion, arms and other dangling bits waving in the air as he yelled in indiscernible wails. The water from the river danced from his swaying forelock, shimmering in the midday sun in a graceful arc. Even though Eruka was currently watching the most traumatic event in her long life take place before her eyes, she still took a moment to envy the water trickling down his abdomen.

He landed hard with a heaving grunt, and almost immediately flowers erupted from the earth beneath him as he floundered. They grew up to meet him, encircling his arms and legs, seemingly as eager to touch that golden skin as Eruka was.

Eruka remained frozen, leg still outstretched as she watched the man struggle with the flowers, looking much like a turtle unable to get off his back. She had single-handedly ruined any chance of them living happily ever after - and also having sex. Not that she ever planned on approaching him with _either_ offer, but she certainly liked having the option open.

The man finally beat off the pink wildflowers enough that he could sit up, and Eruka's horror quickly turned to panic. She could fix this. She just needed to be calm and cool. And possibly flirty. Potentially sexy?

"How dare you sneak up on me!" Eruka paused, trembling fingers clenching and unclenching. That had come out wrong. "I'm sorry, you're very pretty. You have a nice...smile."

He slowly looked up at her, one eye black, the other red, and Eruka swallowed. His brows furrowed in question, and he watched her for a long moment, long enough that Eruka began to wonder if he was a bit daft. But then the bemused expression changed as his face bloomed into a wide smile, revealing sharp, white incisors.

"You think I'm pretty?"

"Yes," Eruka breathed, wringing her hands as she watched him uproot a flower that had been getting too familiar and toss it aside. Her eyes darted back to his, which hadn't left her. "I think you're lovely."

His grin widened. "Thank you."

Eruka considered herself a fairly calm individual, but his smile had her heart beating faster than it ever had before. Her palms tingled with sweat as she struggled for words through the dryness of her mouth. "I'm Eruka," she said.

"I'm Free."

" _For dinner?_ " Eruka squawked before she could stop herself.

His grin turned crooked at her shrill question, revealing more of his sharp canines. "No, that's my name."

"Your name?"

"Something wrong with it?"

"No, nothing!" Eruka quickly assured. "I just... wasn't aware you had a name."

Free's smile grew suddenly sharp, his next words clipped. "Because Zeus didn't find it necessary to give me one?"

Eruka shook her head. "Because she took it from you."

"Ah." A noncommittal noise. "I'm assuming when we say Zeus we both mean the witch, Maba?"

Eruka, who hadn't known the two were on bad terms, croaked out an unsure "...Yes?" She'd known Zeus and Demeter had kept him here for some reason or another; however, she'd always assumed it was more of a voluntary seclusion.

Free crossed his arms and leaned back against a pillow of flowers, a bouquet of peonies, snapdragons, and lilies which had sprouted up to accommodate him. "Maba hasn't yet found a way to control free will, so I gave myself a new name."

"So why Free?"

He shrugged. "Optimistic thinking, I suppose."

From what he was saying, Free was a prisoner within the forest. It would explain why he never left, and also why the area was enclosed with such powerful magic. It didn't, however, explain why such knowledge had remained a secret. Or why he didn't wear clothing. As her mind sifted through the information, Eruka started to pull out the flowers that had grown near Free with her fist. Free, who had begun to speak again, paused to watch the blossoms decay with a raised brow. He didn't seem angry she was killing his flowers, merely curious.

"Anyway," he continued, pulling his eyes from the dead plants. "How did you get in here?" The unspoken 'and how do you get out' hung off the end of his words. "I've never seen anyone else enter this forest," he paused, "aside from _her,_ of course."

Eruka watched him silently. The puzzle of his apparent imprisonment had dampened the strength of her nerves, but the reminder of who-and what-she was brought back a good deal of her anxiety. Clearing her throat carefully, Eruka looked away from his intent gaze.

"There are very few places I can't enter," she said in answer to his question. "Anywhere something can die, I can usually go."

Free's snort had her head whirling back around to face him.

"Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine." At Eruka's devastated expression, he quickly amended. "Not that that's a bad thing. Dead things are great." His voice lowered conspiratorially, and he beckoned her closer, "If I'm being honest I would love it if every flower died, like, _yesterday_."

Eruka's brows furrowed, lowering her own voice. "But flowers seem to be...your thing."

He snorted, finally leaning back. "Not by choice. They're very... _touchy_." As if to prove his point, a purple blossom leaned over to rub its petals against his ass. Honestly, Eruka could relate. There was little she wouldn't give for a chance to grope him.

Which reminded her of something that had been niggling at the back of her brain. "I touched you," she said. "Earlier, when you attacked me."

Free scratched his belly, dry amusement flashing in his eyes. "I mean, one could argue the semantics of whom attacked whom, given that I just said 'hello' and ended up on my-"

Eruka ignored him. "And usually everything I touch dies. Unless they're a God."

"Or immortal."

"Immortal?"

The smile was back, charming and mischievous. "If you come back tomorrow I'll tell you all about it. My sordid past and harrowing adventures will be yours for the listening. Can't give away all my secrets on the first date."

Eruka's face went immediately red. She slapped both her hands against her cheeks, and could feel the heated skin beneath her palms. Eruka didn't want to tell him that she'd basically been watching him bathe everyday for four years, and that at this point he couldn't keep her away, so she just nodded and squeaked out an, "Okay."

His beaming grin was worth it.

From there, they remained sitting together quietly for a long while, Free dozing here and there, and Eruka simply watching the rise and fall of his chest. It was peaceful, and further words seemed to be unnecessary. And if Free noticed or minded her gaze, he didn't mention it.

All too soon, however, Eruka knew she had to leave, and so she rose from the earth and brushed the remnants of dead flowers from the seat of her dress. Free watched her silently, a blank expression on his face.

"I'll come back," Eruka said as she stood over him, suddenly unsure.

He smiled at that, serene as he remained lounging among the flowers, head resting on his arms. "I know."

And then Eruka left, creating a path of death out of the forest. Even if such a thing concerned her anymore, she knew that by the time she returned the next day, her deadened path would be once again revived with swaying wildflowers. For now, however, every living thing which resided within the forest breathed a sigh of relief.

All but one, who watched her retreat with a calculating look.

 

... .

As Eruka left the mortal realm, stepping through the gates of Hades, she felt a cool calmness wash through her. It was a sensation that bloomed beneath her breast every time she entered the underworld; a queer mixture of rightness, peace, and a painful, hollow loneliness.

The caverns surrounding her were dark and looming, whispering tales of horror and fear, of every terror-filled thought that touched the minds of the dying and the dead. It was maddening, and the constant, pervading stench of death made her sick. What perhaps was worse, however, was the way she felt welcomed in Hades. As though it was the only place she mattered, or would ever matter. The idea wrapped around the marrow of her bones like a chain, locking her in the surrounding darkness.

Just as the fear began to take over her mind, the harsh stone of the hallways gave way to soft sand beneath her toes. She'd reached the shores of the river Styx.

Eruka rubbed her arms roughly, weary after the onslaught of emotion, and walked faster to the small cottage in the middle of the darkness. It was her old home, from before, moved by magic onto the black, sandy beaches of the river Styx. The inside of the home was illuminated by a small fireplace, and the dark waves lapping at the shore danced with reflected firelight.

Relief washed through her as she entered the cottage, the interior stretching out far larger than it appeared to from the outside. It was cozy inside, housing plush furniture and a plethora of odds and ends that riddled the shelves, bookshelves, side tables, and cabinets.

"Eruka?"

Eruka stopped to unbuckle the cloak from her hunched shoulders, breathing through the slew of emotion still attacking her. "Jackson."

" _Where have you been_."

Eruka pulled the cape off her shoulders and shot a look at her disgruntled companion. "Don't I get a 'welcome home'?" she asked, shaking the black fabric in her hands. A plume of gray dust exploded into the air, making her sneeze.

"I have spent the entire day trying to get rid of the soul that escaped the river, which we both agreed would be _your job_ ," Jackson shot back. "I tried all the usual techniques but _nothing_ worked. Apologies if I'm not feeling welcoming at the moment."

Rubbing her nose, Eruka regarded Jackson thoughtfully. He was an odd sort of fellow, though that usually came with being a witch's familiar - former witch's familiar, in this case. He was a tadpole who she had concentrated large amounts of magic into since he'd been an egg. Of course, the goal at the time had been to create a massive frog familiar, but something had gone a tad bit wrong with the spell and she'd instead gotten a largish, round tadpole.

He had thick, bristly brows and jagged teeth, with kind eyes that were only a bit too far apart. Being a tadpole, he also didn't have arms, but a spell to fashion him a pair was easy enough to find. When she'd been chosen as the next Hades, he'd allowed himself to be frozen in time alongside her, ever the faithful assistant.

Now, however, he stood with his magic hands on his extended waist and a pout that brought a distinct line between his squinty eyes.

Sighing, Eruka turned and hung up her cloak with more force than she intended. "What's really the matter, Jackson?"

"The number of souls we're processing daily has gone down by a third. Sooner or later Zeus is going to notice and she's going to be asking questions. More importantly," Jackson paused, as if to brace himself for something horrible. His voice lowered to a whisper when he continued, filled with unspoken horror, "more importantly, I've heard you _giggling_ , Eruka. What is going on with you?"

Eruka frowned down at him. It wouldn't do if Jackson started getting nosy, particularly on the subject of Free. "I'm sorry you had to hear me...giggle. And as for where I've been, I've been out...walking."

"Walking."

"I don't have to explain myself to you."

Jackson glared - as well as his pudgy tadpole face could. He really did have trouble looking anything but adorable, Eruka mused with some sympathy. "When you want to tell me the truth I'll be busy trying to get rid of that stupid soul."

"Jackson…"

"Because it's _my job,_ " he cried over his shoulder, slamming the door to his room.

Expelling a weary breath, Eruka turned on her heel and walked to the fireplace, slumping into the plush chair closest to its warmth.

After she'd eaten dinner, Eruka considered her options carefully. She was sitting on the small, threadbare bed inside her room, one which had decayed with use and time over the years. It was admittedly gloomy as far as bedrooms went; the log walls were damp with condensation, and any colour that had been in the fabric had long since faded. She'd tried to make the space more inviting over the years, added a few pretty stones, some picture frames. Her mattress had a handmade bed skirt, which she was quite proud of.

Arms folded and biting her nail in thought, Eruka's gaze drifted to the drawing of Free she'd made several months ago, hung in a picture frame which may have been pink once. The sketch wasn't an exact likeness, but she thought it was pretty decent. His heavily shaded jaw and hooded gaze stared back at her mockingly.

Her foot tapped in agitation.

She wanted him. Free.

Ever since he'd found her in his field that afternoon, a rare feeling of hope had sprouted within her breast. It was _addictive._

As Hades, ruler of the underworld, Eruka rarely saw her brethren, most of whom prefered to stay within the gates of Olympus. Not that she was overly fond of the rather incestuous group, but _any_ social contact would be welcome.

This, however, was a chance at _romance_.

Love.

SEX.

Not that she knew much about any of those topics, but she'd heard _really_ good things about that last one.

If Eruka was being honest, however, she just wanted someone to be her person. A person to talk with, sit with, eat with. Aside from Jackson, the dead were her only company, and they were all a rather self-pitying sort. When she was desperate for interaction she would speak with them, and what they talked of most, in between their moans and pained gargling, were the people they loved and missed most.

They craved contact in a way she'd never understood before becoming Hades, but over the years the lack of touch had made her equally insatiable.

Eruka wanted a person for her own. Someone to touch.

She just needed a plan.

...

"What is that?" Eruka had spent the last several hours panicking over meeting with Free again. She'd buffed the skulls on her dress, straightened her hair free of the little kinks caused by a restless sleep, she'd even worn shoes.

She _hated_ shoes.

When she found him however, kneeling among the flowers within a glade by the river, he was otherwise occupied. Rather than anxiously waiting for her arrival, Free had his hands all over something wriggly and furry and...

Free looked up at her words, smiling brightly as he spotted her. "My dog."

Eruka took a cautious step closer. "Your… dog."

Free continued to scratch the animals butt with one hand and rub its belly with the other. "Yeah, his name is Dog. Isn't that right, Dog? _Isn't it?_ "

The animal coughed up a round ball of fur, farted, and wagged his tail even harder.

"...Right." Eruka stepped closer. "Free, are you aware your dog has three heads?"

"Yeah, he's always been a bit of an odd fella. I figure he was a result of the ol' one upping between the Gods, you know? And after it didn't work they just stuck him in here with me. Good thing I'm here to love the little fella to bits, _isn't that right?_ " After one last belly pat and a butt scratch, Free stood and presented the full force of his groin/grin at Eruka. "You came back."

The words were a stark reminder of the reason for her visit, and Eruka momentarily forgot about the furry freak of nature. Suddenly self-conscious, she brushed at a wrinkle on her dress, face warm. "Yeah, well. I said I would."

No longer distracted by Free's affections, one of Dog's heads swiveled to face Eruka, the other two soon following to give her a curious look. Eruka immediately noticed the sniffing noses directed at her person, and a flash of fear ran through. It was quickly accompanied by the mental image of Free's distraught face at the dead, decaying body of his pet.

"Don't," Eruka growled, pointing a warning finger at the sniffing noses. She took a step back just as Dog took one forward. If she killed this drooling, dirty mess Free would be heartbroken. For reasons of a sexual nature she couldn't let that happen.

As if for the sole purpose of cockblocking her, Dog darted forward. "Free!" Eruka yelped, shuffling back further, darting around and behind him.

One head barked at her, tongues wagging as Dog chased her around Free. Eruka struggled to keep Free's body between her and the animal, with the intent of not accidentally killing his mutant dog. " _Free_ , stop laughing and _help_ me!"

"Okay, okay. Enough playing," Free said, chuckling. "Dog has a sensitive stomach and throws up if he gets too excited and - Woah-ho! Careful there, you almost grabbed my-"

" _STOP YOUR FUCKING DOG, YOU IDIOT!"_

"Alright, c'mere, Dog. Eruka doesn't want to play right now." Free picked up Dog, who wriggled unhappily as he was lifted over Free's shoulder. "You don't have to worry, you know, about your... condition."

Eruka glared. "I could've killed him!"

Free grinned, creating a wriggly swarm of butterflies within Eruka's abdomen. "No, see, that's what I mean. Dog has had multiple times to kick the bucket and he's still kicking." Free rubbed Dog's butt affectionately. "Just today he fell off a cliff, drowned in a small puddle, and got kicked in all three heads by a deer. And still he's here to share his charming personality with you." Dog scratched his left-most head and farted.

Eruka looked from Dog's wiggling body to Free, the latter of whom watched her calmly.

"Really…?"

A terse nod. "That's why I thought you might like to meet him." Free rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. "I was hoping to make it a surprise, but you came earlier than expected. So...surprise?"

"You wanted to surprise me?" Eruka asked, flattered in spite of herself. A voice in the back of her her mind reminded Eruka of her appallingly low standards. She quickly smothered it.

"Sure." Free let Dog jump down from his arms. "Want to pat him? Sit, Dog." Dog lied down.

With one last hesitant look at Free, Eruka walked up to Dog. His tail wagged at her, several faces slobbering in tandem. Hands trembling, Eruka leaned down to brush the fur atop Dog's middle head. He nosed into her hand, and the foreign sensation caused an acute heat to rise behind her eyes. But the emotions caused by the touch of his fur were nothing next to the sight of his still wagging tail, unhindered by the touch of death.

Eruka quickly moved away, blinking heavily, the feel of warm, soft fur still fresh in her mind. "Thank you," she choked out, clearing her throat. "He's filthy, he needs a bath."

"See what I mean about a God cast-off? I figure they put some crazy shit in his DNA and hoped for the best."

"You shouldn't have risked it. Be more careful with him… in the future, I mean."

Free regarded her silently, absently petting Dog. Then one of his signature grins bloomed on his face, crinkling his eyes and flashing his dimples. "You like him."

Eruka scoffed. "I do not."

"You _do_. Admit it, you love his furry butt and his widdle feets, and his wet noses, and you'll have to keep visiting me if you want to see more of him."

Eruka rolled her eyes and tucked a lock of hair behind her ears. " _I do not_ , and I always come to see you anyway." Eruka didn't notice anything odd with what she'd said until she looked back to see Free's shocked expression. Her face immediately turned red. "I mean…"

Eruka watched in unveiled horror as realization dawned on Free's face. "No!" she growled, pointing a finger at his nose.

"I wasn't going to say anything!" he insisted quickly, hands up.

"Whatever you're thinking, stop thinking it!"

"Eruka, listen, it's not a big deal," Free chuckled. "Actually, I'm flattered-"

Eruka spun on her heel. "I'm leaving," she grunted through her teeth, stomping away. Her face felt hot and uncomfortable, more noticeable with the breeze brushing her cheeks.

"Wha-Eruka," Free called after her, chuckling lightly under his breath. "Eruka!" He captured her shoulder with one hand and gently turned her around. "You win, we won't talk about anything regarding your-"

Eruka glared.

"...thing. Look, please don't leave yet, you just got here. We can," Free looked around the forest, finger tapping on Eruka's shoulder, "have dinner! I can make you dinner!"

If anything, this increased the intensity of Eruka's blush, but since they weren't talking about her crush anymore, Eruka managed a hesitant nod in response.

"Awesome. You just wait here with Dog while I go find something for us to eat. So just...uh... stay put."

"Free, I said I would."

"And I respect and trust you," Free said solemnly, before turning with a short wave. "Be right back!"

Eruka watched him run off, silently. With each step he took, flowers rose from the earth beneath his feet, curling around one another as their buds formed and bloomed to face the sun. It was a queer and tantalizing sight, though it it didn't stop Eruka from staring at his rear the whole time. Once he'd disappeared into the dark of the forest, she sighed and turned to Dog.

"I hope you realize that Dog is a horrible name," she told him, eyeing each head in turn.

Dog farted.

Eruka wasn't sure how long she waited, though she suspected it was at least half an hour. Dog's farts were pretty systematic that way, at least one every minute or so. For his part, Dog lay snoring against her lap, tongues wagging and foot kicking. Eruka kept her hand on his belly, stroking his stomach and enjoying the warmth of his fur beneath her fingers.

"I once had a dog, you know," she told his slobbery faces, moving her hand to rub the top of one head. "Before I was Hades." Eruka lifted a floppy ear, let it drop. Dog snuffled. "Mainly to harvest his nail clippings and eye scabs. Very good for indigestion potions, you know."

"Sounds tasty."

Eruka jumped at the amused voice behind her, causing Dog to grumble and roll over. "Free!"

"Sorry it took so long, I couldn't find any rabbits so we'll have to settle for some fruit. Look! Pomegranate!"

"I hate pomegranates."

Free chucked the fruit across the field. "So do I." He plopped down on the ground without pause, causing a wave of flowers to rise beneath him. His hand rifled through the basket of fruit and he pulled out a shiny red one. "Apple? I'm assuming it won't shrivel."

Eruka took it, pulling it away as one of Dog's noses sniffed it out in his sleep. "Yeah, Demeter made fruit okay to touch."

"So…" Free began thoughtfully, rolling an orange between his hands. "Do you miss it?"

"Mish wuh?" Eruka asked, biting into her apple.

"You know," Free waved his hand about, appearing to search for words. Finally his voice went comically high as said, "'before I was Hades'?"

Eruka snorted, then proceeded to choke on the apple in her throat. Free leaned over to pat her back good-naturedly. Once she finished coughing, Eruka began laughing. "Is that supposed to be me?" she asked, after she'd recovered, wiping her eyes with a finger. "That was awful."

"My male ego demands that I ignore that statement. Furthermore, you're avoiding the question."

"Male ego, huh?" Eruka plucked a blade of grass outside the circle of dead greenery surrounding her. "I don't really like to think of the 'before' too much. Besides," she flicked the dying blade at Free, "that was a private conversation between Dog and I."

Free reached over to pat Dog, and Eruka's eyes immediately shot to the stretch of muscles in his lower abdomen. "Are you a better conversationalist than I am?" Free asked Dog, rubbing his belly so hard that Dog snorted awake. " _Are you?_ "

When Free leaned upright again, Eruka quickly darted her eyes back to his face. "Not that I blame you, to be honest. He's kept me good company over the years."

"You were going to tell me about your history," Eruka reminded, reaching out with her foot to touch his knee. "You promised."

Free grabbed her foot before she could pull it back and set it on his lap, rubbing his thumb along the edge of her ankle. "I did, didn't I?"

Eruka stared back at him wide-eyed, her face red. The words choked and shriveled in her throat when she attempted to respond, only registering the gentle brush of his thumb against her skin, the flesh of his hand rough but warm. Swallowing thickly, Eruka managed a tight nod.

Free cleared his throat curtly before he started, as if telling a grand story. "Before I was brought here, I lived in a small hunting village."

"A mortal village?"

"...Yes."

"What did you hunt?"

"We, uh, kept busy finding game in the woods, making pelts, that sort of thing."

"Wha-"

Free reached over and grabbed Eruka's hand, squeezing it gently. "Maybe just leave the questions till after I finish, yeah?"

In answer, Eruka kicked her other foot up onto his lap to join the first.

Laughing quietly, Free begun to rub both her feet as he continued, "Anyways, one winter when I was just a boy, I'd been following a wounded elk through a mountain pass. It was my first hunt, and I tracked her for several weeks, following the drops of blood she left in the snow. Just as I was closing in on her-so close I could taste the flesh of her hide on my tongue- I noticed smoke coming from the direction of my home. By the time I returned... none were found alive."

Eruka frowned. "So someone burned your village?" Nails pierced her foot. "Ow!"

"Sorry," Free said, appearing genuinely surprised by his action. He gentled his foot rubbing in apology. "Nobody burned it down. I'm sure it was just an accident."

"Is that when Zeus and Demeter found you?"

He shook his head, sniffing lightly. "Uh, just Demeter, but not until later, after I'd wandered around on my own for a few years. When she did, though, she brought me here. She asked Zeus to enchant the forest, and eventually immortality took hold...and the flower thing. I've been trapped here ever since."

"Oh. Well. I'm sorry about your family," Eruka tried. She wanted to be comforting, because she assumed he'd like that, but emotions tended to confuse her. She'd grown up in a poverty stricken orphanage, so familial loss wasn't something she could even relate to. "Do you want a hug?"

Free smiled at her with genuine affection. "You're sweet. But no, I think I'd rather hear about you."

"Me?" Eruka attempted to think of something positive about her history. After a moment, she turned to him hopefully. "I've killed a bunch of people."

He gave her a blank look, before quickly shaking his head. "Uh...Okay, what about something more personal than that?"

Again, Eruka frowned at him. "Personal?"

Free gently set aside both her feet and leaned in closer, his hand settling on her other side. "I'm sorry for pushing," he murmured. "I just find you so… enchanting."

Eruka's mouth fell open and her apple dropped from limp fingers. "Huh."

Free delicately plucked the apple from her lap and slowly took a bite, directly over the area that Eruka had bitten previously. He maintained eye contact with her as his teeth dug in and ripped the flesh free. Eruka watched with wide eyes as he chewed and swallowed.

He tossed the apple into the basket and moved even closer, so close now that she could feel the heat emanate from his skin. She heard the blackened grass surrounding her crinkle under his palm, and her eyes automatically moved towards the noise.

"Eruka." Her gaze shot up to his, fingers trembling. He caught them with his and pulled her hand into his lap, twining their fingers in a way that had her breath catching. "I'm happy you're with me."

The warmth of him flowed through the contact, and her heart felt swollen in her chest. A sense of anticipation made breathing difficult as Free's other hand palmed her cheek.

"Can I-"

Eruka grabbed Free by his pointed ears and pulled his face to hers. They fell together to the earth, and Eruka could feel the high temperature of Free's body through her gown. Their lips were crushed painfully together, but his mouth was warm, and she could still taste the sweetness of the apple against his tongue. She breathed in deeply the scent of forest and earth.

When Eruka pulled away, she opened her eyes to see Free staring wide eyed back at her, a healthy flush on his face.

"I'm going to get you out of here," Eruka said, breathing hard.

"What?" Free seemed confused by her statement, his eyes clouded. Licking his kiss-swollen lips Free tried to move his head but Eruka kept it locked between her palms. Their faces were hidden from the world by the blue curtain of her hair, and Eruka was loathe to ruin this moment. Affectionately, she brushed the edge of his cheekbone with her thumb.

"Tomorrow you're coming with me to the underworld," Eruka said, unable to smother the urge to lean down and kiss the corner of his mouth.

" _What?_ " Free said, sitting up. He easily broke free from Eruka's hold this time, and caught her by the arms when she would have slid off his chest.

Eruka spat out a lock of hair from her mouth. "Just for a visit, you can't stay forever. I just thought you wanted to get out of here." She paused, hand frozen in her hair. "Unless you don't want to...?"

"No I do!" Free hurried to say. "More than you know, more than anything."

"Then I'll meet you here tomorrow after I've made the preparations," Eruka told him. "Tomorrow we're busting you out of here."

"And Dog."

"...And Dog."

….

"Jackson! JACKSON!" Eruka slammed the front door to the cabin shut and ran to Jackson's room, her footsteps causing the aged floorboards to groan in protest. Sliding around a corner at the end of the hall on an old rug, Eruka slammed into the wall before darting down to Jackson's room. Breathing heavily, she pounded on his door. "Jackson! Get your butt out of bed, I need your help!"

Eruka took a deep breath, hands dragging through her hair. "I'm cool, I'm cool, _cool, cool, cool, cool, cool_ . _JACKSON!_ "

"I'm up, I'm up," Jackson mumbled, opening the door _._ He rubbed his eyes with his spectral arms. "What's going on, what time is it?"

She waved aside his question. "What do you think would happen if I brought a living thing down here?"

Jackson blinked wearily up at her, clearly still half asleep. "Can we talk about this in the morning? I spent most of last night tracking down that soul."

" _Jacksoon_."

"Alright, alright. _Alright, I said!_ " Jackson righted his night cap where Eruka had been tugging on it. "...What's the problem?"

"I want to try bringing someone down here."

Jackson appeared noticeably more awake now. "Eruka, when you first became Hades, we spent a year finding everyone who was ever mean to us and lured them through the entrance. We laughed as their skin peeled back and their screams echoed so loudly they could be heard two towns over. It's been a thousand years and they still tell stories about it to scare their children-"

"They were all mortal, what if the person was immortal?"

"Do I really want to know?"

Eruka held her breath a moment, glaring at Jackson. He would not be okay with this, she knew it without having to ask him. Honestly, she couldn't blame him. Had the situation been reversed, she would've laughed in his pudgy little face.

As it happened, she really wanted Free down here with her. Breathing out her nose, Eruka opened her hands placatingly. "I'm inviting my boyfriend and maybe his dog to visit us… probably his dog."

"What!?" Jackson squawked. "Your _boyfriend?_ Eruka, this is _completely_ against the rules."

" _So?_ When have we ever followed the rules?"

"We've been pretty cut and dry for the last _millennium_ , don't you think?" Jackson's usually shrill voice was entering the hysterical range. "Remember? Since we're both terrified of Zeus? _The woman who killed the last Hades?_ "

"I'm not scared of her," Eruka lied.

"You hid in your room the last three times her servant came to the underworld. You made _me_ talk to her!"

"You thought she was cute!"

"SHE'S TERRIFYING!"

Eruka took a deep breath. "Alright, look. If you help me, I'll help you with that soul you can't catch."

But Jackson wasn't listening to her, his face once more buried in his hands. "We are going to be in so much trouble," he moaned, voice muffled. "This is going to end up horribly wrong, I know it."

Eruka rolled her eyes and grabbed Jackson with both hands, shaking him hard enough to dislodge his pajama hat. " _Jackson!_ I need to know how to get someone out of a magic cage without killing them."

He glared up at her a long moment, in which neither moved. Finally something seemed to give behind Jackson's eyes as he sighed. "Fine," he relented, before pointing a stern finger at Eruka. "But we are having a long talk about this when I'm more awake-"

"Whenever you want."

Jackson squinted his eyes at her, but seemed to take her word for it. "Alright. Have him put clover in his pocket, and make sure he's chewing mint when he exits. I have some spare mint, but you'll have to find clover while you're up there."

"Thank you, Jackson." Eruka leaned down to hug him quickly. "I knew I could rely on my pudgy assistant."

" _Partner._ And you better not forget about the soul again!"

... .

It was early when Eruka entered the forest; the sun not yet risen above the tips of the evergreen trees, casting an amber glow throughout the meadow. Eruka sneezed as the soft breeze blew pollen in her face, then sneezed again as the pollen turned to ash in her nostrils. "Can't- _choo!_ Can't catch a fucking break," she muttered, wiping a copious amount of snot from her nose with an arm.

Ever since she'd been deemed the next Hades, most living things seemed to go out of their way to ruin her life. It was a depressing contrast to the life she'd lived before, one rich with herbs, greenery, and admittedly a fair amount of dissection. Even that was more "circle of life" than the unholy ability she now possessed. Not that she'd ever been particularly concerned about being "holy".

In either case, the sooner she found Free, the sooner she could get away from this wretched-

"Aahh!" she yelled as she tripped on a tree root into a nearby bush. More specifically a prickle bush, with thorns that dug into her skin through her dress. "Ow, ow, ow-AAHH!" Eruka jerked away from the hands that grabbed her under the arm, pulling her up and out of the decaying bush.

"Easy, there. It's just me," Free laughed, reaching over to detangle the roots still wrapped around her foot. "Having trouble over here?"

"Don't you look down on me," Eruka snapped, face flushed. She kicked at nearby greenery in an attempt to free herself before twisting around, still a tad unsteady, to point an aggravated finger at him. "I used to be amazing with plants!"

"Uh, huh," Free brushed off the ash from her dress, "and was this before or after you touch it?"

Eruka slapped his hands aside. "I can dust off my own bottom, _thank you!_ "

"Sorry, guess I'm just a bit excited," admitted Free, releasing her once she was steady. As she plucked off a few stragglers from her dress, Eruka noted that Free _did_ look quite excited. His usual bright smile was working double time today, even despite the sheepish look on his face. Altogether he looked rather boyish, or at least as boyish as a nearly 7 foot, heavily muscled, naked man could look.

A loud bark had her jumping to the side, and she looked down to see Dog's tail wagging as he looked up at her, three tongues hanging out of his three mouths.

"Yes, I see you. Hello, Dog."

"Everything alright?" he asked, calming somewhat as he regarded her. The blinding smile dimmed. "You seem a bit out of sorts today."

Eruka sighed from where she'd crouched down to greet Dog, her fingers tangling in his warm fur. "Yes, just nervous, I suppose." She looked up at him, then down at Dog. Her free hand waved around flippantly as she struggled for words. "Sorry for...snapping at you."

"Water under the bridge," Free assured, though his voice sounded somewhat distracted as he patted her roughly on the shoulder. His eyes kept darting to the still dark forest around them, and Eruka struggled not to take the opportunity to study the way the morning light illuminated his pecs. His voice lowered as he continued, "I would, however, like to leave sooner rather than later if it's all the same."

"Oh, of course." Eruka ignored Dog's grumpy whine as she pulled her hand away to stand, reaching into the bag she'd brought with her. Careful not to open it and risk touch the living herbs within, Eruka pulled out a small metal box that Jackson had prepared. "I brought some supplies for you before we go through the exit."

Free visibly perked up. "The exit, you know where it is?"

Eruka waved her hand behind her. "Yeah, it's just back there. About a hundred metres. Before that, though, I need you to pick up this green thing-the _other_ green thing... Good, now chew on it."

He made a face as he chewed. "I don't like this. What is it?"

"It's mint. And you don't have to like it, just keep chewing," she ordered. "Now this is clover, you need to stick it in a pocket as you exit of the forest."

"Pocket?"

"Yeah, like a pouch in your...ah." Eruka regarded Free's naked body. "This might be a problem."

"Problem?"

"I don't suppose you have shorts tucked away somewhere?"

Free folded his arms, a frown set sternly on his face. "If you're asking if I have any _clothes,_ the answer is no."

"Look, Free, I respect and encourage your…" she gestured vaguely to his crotch, "nudist agenda, but this clover needs to go in a pocket."

Free was silent for several moments, and Eruka could see the indecision in his eyes. Finally, he seemed to come to a resolution as a look of determination flashed across his face. Resolutely, he took the box.

"Don't let Dog follow me," Free told her solemnly as he walked towards a cluster of trees. "I don't want him to see this."

….

"You good?"

"I'm fine."

"You just look a little green."

" _Eruka_."

Laughing, Eruka grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the portal. Just as her foot touched the edge, a fat drop of rain splashed against the tip of her nose. Surprised, she rubbed the spot. "Wha…? It never rains here."

Free looked back at the forest as Eruka squinted up at the thundering sky. The clouds lit and crackled in rapid succession as thunder roared, accompanied by pouring sheets of sputtering rain.

"She knows I left," Free warned, face grave as he turned to Eruka. "We need to hurry."

"What, you think the rain is her fault?"

He nodded. "I've seen her mad before. Rain, thunder, lightning - the woman is very dramatic."

"You think she's mad? _Why would she be mad?_ "

"...Maybe she thinks someone is taking me against my will? Don't worry about it, let's just go."

"This is not good," Eruka muttered, pulling Free through the portal. He easily slipped through, but Eruka didn't stop moving, her hold on his arm firm. Dog followed happily, barking as he stuck close to their heels. "Not good, not good. Jackson is going to love this."

"He's going to what?" Free yelled over the storm.

" _Love this!_ He's a bit of a vindictive shit like that," she answered, pausing in front of a large rock wall. She released Free's arm to rummage through her bag till she found a large stick of chalk.

"What are you doing?"

Eruka hurriedly began to outline a messy box big enough for them both. "I'm making a door," she explained, gently scootching Dog aside when his heads tried to lick her face as she sketched the bottom. "The actual entrance to Hades is too far for us to reach without flying or killing ourselves. Both of which are at this time impossible."

"I guess I always imagined something more… sophisticated?"

"Well, it isn't a conventional method of travel, per say, but it get's the job done." Eruka finished her line neatly and stepped back, pushing her wet hair away from her face. "There."

A moment later, the white chalk darkened to a deep, consuming black that crawled inward, filling in the gaps within the chalk till the black encompassed the entire square.

"Follow me," Eruka said, grasping his hand again. "And clench that clover."

"Roger that," Free said hoarsely.

They entered through the doorway, pushing through a wall of cool air that signalled the descent into Hades. The hallway was stone, as though carved from the mountain, and it was completely dark aside from a faint glow in the distance. Eruka tugged Free through when he hesitated, and Dog hurried to follow, pressing close to her leg.

"I think the clover just died in my butt crack."

"Yeah, that happens down here. Unless it's grown in the underworld, everything living dies," Eruka looked at Dog, Free, then down at the flowers defying logic by bursting through the stone ground beneath Free's feet. A trail of pink, blushing roses was left in their wake. "...Usually. Anyway, we're heading up to the hallway of the inner sanctum now. I live in a cabin on the river Styx, just up ahead."

"We're here? I thought the underworld was...y'know… under world? We haven't exactly gone far."

"The door was a portal. Also Hades isn't so much 'under world' as it is apart from it."

"Why do I feel so sad all of a sudden?" Free asked, stepping closer. His arm brushed against hers and Eruka shivered from the warmth. The sensation caused her own gnawing sadness to deplete somewhat, and she found herself breathing easier.

"It's the emotions of the dead," Eruka responded, speaking over Dog's whimpers. "It's only temporary. By the time we reach the cabin your body will acclimate and it won't affect you any longer." She squeezed his hand. "It's better with company."

He shot her a small smile, and together with Dog they hurried down the hallway.

…..

Soft, black sand gave way under their feet as they exited the hallway and arrived at the darkened banks of the river Styx. While still dimly lit, the faint blue glow which permeated from the otherworldly river was far preferable to the cavernous pathway they'd just traveled through. Relieved to finally be home, Eruka pulled the group onward and together they scrambled across the shore to the small cabin in the distance.

"Wait here," Eruka said, halting Free from going up the steps to the door. "I need to mentally prepare Jackson."

"You've mentioned him before, who is he?" Free asked, reaching down to pick up a wriggly Dog.

"My assistant-"

" _Partner_."

Eruka whirled around to face the aggravated expression on Jackson's pudgy face. "Jackson! Uh, this is Free. And Dog. Who I mentioned were both coming to visit today."

"Right. Your _boyfriend_ ," Jackson said glibly, crossing his arms.

"Boyfriend?" Free repeated.

" _Jackson!_ " Eruka hissed, before turning back to Free. "Sorry, can you excuse us for a minute? There are a few trees over there if you follow the shore line, just don't eat anything or you'll be stuck here. It's lovely, I promise."

Free glanced between Jackson and Eruka, taking in the aggravation on both their faces. "Yeah, that sounds good. C'mon, Dog." Giving Eruka a quick thumbs up, Free swung Dog under his arm and sauntered off, a merry skip in his step.

Eruka waved till he'd walked a far enough distance before spinning around. " _Jackson!_ " Eruka hissed. "He doesn't _know_ he's my boyfriend yet!"

" _Are you even listening to yourself!?_ " Jackson shot back, floating down the steps of the cabin to her level. "You said we'd talk about this before you did anything!"

"He's just visiting for awhile," Eruka assured. "I'll take him back to the forest tomorrow. _Please,_ Jackson. I really like him." She lowered her voice conspiratorially. "I got my first _kiss_ today. I'm pretty sure there was tongue."

"Ugh, I didn't need to know that." Jackson rubbed his eyes and looked at Eruka, who had contorted her face into a look which was meant to resemble sincerity. He sighed. "And he'll be gone tomorrow? _Before_ Zeus finds out?"

"I promise. Witch's honour."

Jackson gave a pained look, but he eventually nodded. "Alright then, but I refuse to apologize."

Eruka grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the outcrop of trees that Free and Dog had walked to. "You'll like him, I know it. He's lovely, and hot, and he _never_ wears clothes."

Jackson laughed in that way that told her he wasn't at all amused. "I noticed. Where did he put the clover?"

Eruka linked their arms, and gave him a shove. "Where do you think?" she asked wickedly.

"Honestly, Eruka, I'm concerned."

Eruka cackled in response and tugged him along the shore they'd called home for nearly a millennium. Together they had conquered death and forged their own place among the Gods. Even with this wondrous and new obstacle, they would come out on top. And Eruka would hopefully get a new boyfriend.

"Eruka?" Jackson's voice tore her from her musings.

"Hm?" she asked, startling as she looked down at the horror on his face. "What is it? What's wrong?"

When he didn't respond, Eruka followed his stricken gaze to see Free in the distance. He sat amongst the plethora of fruit trees that grew within the underworld, his face red with the juice of the dissected pomegranates surrounding him. Like blood, it dripped from his fingers onto the bed of flowers that grew beneath him. Dog licked up the juice happily.

It might as well have been blood, for all the horror Eruka felt watching him consume the fruit. Before she could fully process what she was seeing, she was running. Jackson called her name but she ignored him, black sand kicking up from her heels as she raced towards the man gorging himself in her garden.

"F-Free…" she gasped, tripping to a halt before him. Her chest heaved. "What are you doing?"

He looked up, and for the first time Eruka noticed a certain wolfish-ness about him. He offered her his crooked smile, but it was decidedly more menacing than it had ever been before. Her heart wrenched painfully at the sight.

His eyes not leaving her, Free stretched out languidly against the flowers, slowly crossing his legs and folding his arms behind his head. "This place is pretty alright," Free told her, letting out a loud belch. "Got any more pomegranates?"

"I told you not to eat anything!" Eruka yelled. "I was very clear!"

Free bit into another pomegranate, ripping its flesh open. "Yeah, see, you also said that this was a visit. Meaning temporary."

"I...yes? What does that have to do with anything? You said you didn't even like pomegranates!"

He levelled her with a blank look. "I'm not going back, Eruka. Not for you, not for anyone."

"But Zeus-!"

"Not anyone, Eruka."

"But... _pomegranates!_ "

Free threw his arms open. "They're delicious, Eruka! Everyone likes them!"

"You said-!" Eruka cut herself off. She wasn't sure why she was so focused on the pomegranates. Perhaps because it was far less painful than the other betrayal that went unspoken. Emotion thick in her throat, she floundered for something else to say, but only managed a weak, "I don't understand."

Free scratched one of Dog's heads, deliberately sinking deeper into the plume of flowers beneath him. "Well, you better figure it out quick, Eruka. We're going to be neighbours for quite a while."


	2. Chapter 2

The coffee sputtered angrily on the stove, demanding attention as it filled the small room with a heady aroma that Eruka usually enjoyed. Now it barely registered, her mind already littered with a slough of complicated thoughts and emotions.

At some point Jackson had managed to herd everyone into the cabin with the suggestion of breakfast and coffee, and without realizing why or how it had happened, Eruka now sat stiffly at her supper table across from Free. Dog had also been shuffled inside, and was chewing loudly on one of the many bones that riddled the underworld at her feet.

"Nice place," Free muttered around a pancake, stuffing it back in his mouth when it fell out. "Ish cozshy."

Eruka smiled stiffly.

When the kettle continued to wail its displeasure, Eruka tore her stare from Free to Jackson, who currently had his hands over his face in what appeared to be inward panic. "Jackson," she hissed, kicking Jackson under the table, causing the poor tadpole to startle violently. His wide eyes shot to Eruka. "The kettle."

As if only just hearing the coffee screaming in the background, Jackson jumped from his chair, excusing himself quietly under his breath, and rushed to the small kitchen. Eruka noted the movement absently, before returning the force of her glare to the immortal sitting across from her. When the sputtering of the kettle died away, leaving behind a tense silence, Eruka pointedly cleared her throat.

Free either didn't hear her, or was ignoring her as he continued to stuff his face with eggs, toast, muffins, hash browns, and  _pomegranates_. The tattered napkin in her hand tore further as Eruka watched him with gritted teeth.

" _Free_."

"Mhm?" Free answered through a mouthful of food, reaching to dig his spoon into a pile of potatoes. The movement knocked a sausage off his plate and Dog scrambled across the floor to retrieve it. Uncaring or unaware, Free sniffed loudly, wiping his nose with his other hand.

Breathing carefully through her nose, Eruka tried to be diplomatic. "Now that you've eaten, do you think we could talk about this a bit more?"

Free leaned back, stretching out the sinewy muscles of his shoulder. Eruka's lips pinched at the sight. After a blessedly short moment, Free relaxed from his stretch with a satisfied sigh and reached for one of Eruka's hand-sewn napkins, delicately wiping his face.

"I think I was promised coffee?"

Eruka's teeth clenched, but she managed to remain silent as Jackson rushed over from the kitchen.

"Here it is!" Jackson sing-songed in a way that was half-whimsical and half-hysterical. He set down several mugs in front of each place setting, then lifted his favourite kettle - one with pretty glass gems that he'd made during his pottery phase. As he carefully poured the thick, smoking sludge into Free's cup, he turned wide, meaningful eyes to Eruka. She made a face back at him.

Free took a loud sip from the earthenware mug. He then turned to Jackson, smiling, his shoulder positioned in a way that blocked Eruka from the interaction. "Hey, this is good! What do you put in it?"

"Ah... spices."

"Maybe you could show me the recipe some-?"

"You are vile," Eruka seethed, standing so abruptly that dishes rattled. Free shot her an annoyed glance in response, closing his mouth over the unfinished word. "I helped you and you've brought us nothing but trouble!"

"Oh, dear," said Jackson helplessly.

Free rolled his eyes and tossed aside the now-soiled napkin in his hands. "It was never my intention to cause you trouble."

" _You expect me to believe you?_ "

"It'd certainly be helpful," Free returned easily. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Though I can't say I'd be terribly heartbroken if you didn't."

Eruka felt her face burn as she jumped out of her chair with a screech. Before she could launch herself across the table, two skinny arms wrapped around Eruka's waist and pulled her back.

"Eruka can I talk to you -  _oof!_  - in the kitchen?" Jackson grunted as one of Eruka's thrashing arms elbowed him in the face. " _Now_."

"I'm going to kill him," Eruka hissed, breaking free from Jackson's hold after he'd pulled her into the next room. Her hands shook as they reached up to clutch at the fluttering strands of her hair. "I honestly think I'm going to kill him."

Jackson shot her a withering look from where he was peeking into the living room. "We're a bit beyond that point, don't you think?"

Eruka glared.

With a sigh, Jackson hovered towards her and gently grasped her arm. Until he touched her, Eruka hadn't known she'd been trembling. "Eruka, you need to calm down. Let's just take some time to figure this out."

"How?!" she snapped. "Jackson, if Zeus finds out about this she's going to  _kill_ us!"

" _It didn't stop you before_."

Eruka's face flushed. "That - I - that is completely different!" she protested, struggling to keep her voice low.

"It's not. Now stay here while I try and  _fix this_ ," Jackson snapped, expression fearful and harried. It was the only thing that kept her from yelling back at him as he shuffled into the preferable fray.

Breathing shakily through her nose, Eruka willed away tears as thick emotion curdled at the back of her throat. Her fingers found the smooth counter top, worn away with years of use. She hadn't yet processed what had happened back at the river bank, and the familiar flickering candlelight of home had her emotions feeling altogether too raw.

The distant sound of Jackson's apologies didn't help the wave of humiliation, and she found she could accomplish little more than glare at the polished wood beneath her fingers. Her nails curled with her growing anger, catching on a knot in the wood and digging into it.

"...it's a very stressful job," she heard Jackson say from the living room. "No doubt I'd be half-mad by now if I was her."

"I dunno," was Free's nonchalant reply, "doesn't seem that hard."

Which was the last of what Eruka could take. The humiliation, shame, and anger swirled together and broke whatever control she had managed to maintain thus far. Chest heaving, Eruka re-entered the living room.

" _You need to leave!_ " Eruka thundered, marching to the centre of the room and slamming her fists against the tabletop, sending food and dishes clattering to the floor. Black seeped from her bare feet to her surroundings, creeping along the floor and over furniture and walls. Bottles and trinkets lovingly arranged on dusted shelves shook and trembled, falling from their perch to smash against the ground.

"Eruka!" Jackson shouted, hands raised towards her. "Stop -  _my curtains!_ "

Free looked around himself in alarm, and had Eruka been in her right mind she would have rejoiced at finally ripping apart his calm façade. "Eruka-"

Eruka screamed and hurled a lamp at his head.

"Shut up, you idiot!" Jackson snapped. "She's too angry, we have to get out of here."

Jackson pushed Free out the door, careful to keep his hands away from any questionable parts as well as the floral tripping hazards. They stumbled out onto the black sand, turning in time to see the small, homey cottage become smothered in darkness.

With an otherworldly screech, Eruka burst from the house, the shroud of darkness escaping with her.

"What's happening?" she heard Free whisper, his eyes wide.

"She gets like this sometimes," Jackson replied, rubbing his face. "Either when she's scared or angry."

"Which is it this time?"

Jackson shot Free a look. "Both, I imagine."

"You used me!" she wailed, the white of her eyes gone. " _I liked you!_ "

Eruka fell to her knees as the darkness trembled around her, growing louder with her cries. The shaking of her shoulders and the curtained blue of her bent head were all that distinguished her from the billowing mass.

" _ **This wasn't how it was supposed to go!**_ " the body of darkness screamed.

Free broke loose from Jackson's restraining hold and took several angry stomps towards Eruka. The flowers that grew in his wake spawned from the ground in a curling, quivering mass-thorny vines beneath blood red roses.

He pulled one free and chucked it at the angry cloud.

" _ **Hey!**_ "

Free threw another one, along with a handful of sand. "You do not get to throw a tantrum!"

The darkness shrilled at this, thrashing wildly. It spat out a shriveled, dead rose and blew back a gust with such force that Jackson was thrown back

"No!" Free yelled into the wind, finger pointing sternly. His feet were braced in the sand, and his flowers grew up the length of his calf as though to hold him in place. "You've set me up real nice as the villain in your little story but you're hardly any better!"

The gust of wind stopped as the black storm of emotion faltered, the darkness fading until Eruka peeked out with angry, wet eyes. "...Excuse me?"

"I used you  _just as much_  as you used me."

Eruka pushed herself up from the ground, brushing sand off her knees. She tripped several times before stopping in front of Free, hands clenched into trembling fists at her side. " _What_."

He scoffed, folding his arms. " _Please_  - don't think I don't notice you staring at me like a piece of meat. My eyes are up here, you know."

"You - I-"

"No!" Free's hand cut through the air. "You've been coming to visit me for years, Eruka, and not once have you said hello!"

Shocked, Eruka could only stare at him with wide eyes. The darkness deflated, seeping back into the ground. "What?"

" _Yes,_ I know about your little visits. I also know that no matter how long I waited you never said anything!" Free shook his head. "So I talked to you - flirted even. I tried to get you to like me."

"Then you admit to using me!"

" _You_  were the one that suggested getting me out," Free shot back. "Then when I was finally free - after centuries in that  _prison_ \- what was I supposed to do when I hear you tell your fat frog that you're going to send me back!?"

" _Tadpole!_ "

Free ignored Jackson's outraged squawk as he took a step closer to Eruka, brows furrowed and red eye gleaming.

"You say you liked me? Well I liked you too." He gestured crudely to himself. "You wanted  _all_  this, but you didn't want to deal with what it took to keep it. Well, I say screw that, and screw  _you_."

With a dramatic turn of his heel, Free stormed off down the beach in the general direction of his pomegranate trees. Dog made a concerned whine as he debated who to follow, before finally trotting off after Free.

Eruka wasn't sure how long she stared after him, numb. It wasn't until Jackson flopped beside her in a huff that she blinked in awareness.

"Well that took an interesting turn," he said.

"Shut up, Jackson," Eruka replied wearily. With some effort, she willed herself to stand, though it seemed to take all her strength. Sand coated her hair and limbs, but she ignored it as she wobbled forward.

"Hey, where are you going?"

Eruka ignored him, her body feeling sluggish as it often did after an episode. "Somewhere not here," she responded, feeling rather sorry for herself.

Jackson scrambled to his feet to run after her. "Oh, no you don't! You said you'd help me with that soul, and you are not slithering out of it again!"

Shoulders drooping, Eruka rubbed her face. The day had turned out to be the worst in a long time, and her plan of hiding from her feelings in a chair by the fire with a cup of tea sounded far better than chasing after Jackson's wayward soul. "Can we do it tomorrow?"

Jackson studied her face for a long while, his tiny arms crossed sternly over his chest. Finally, he sighed and nodded shortly. "That's probably for the best, anyway. I don't mean to be rude, but you  _do_  look terrible."

"Thanks," Eruka muttered.

He patted her arm kindly. "Nothing sleep and a bit of eye cream won't fix. Come on, I'll make you some tea with honey before bed. You've had a hard day."

"And lemon?"

"And lemon."

….

Eruka's eyes opened to the dull flickering of candlelight, her soft blanket pulled halfway up her face. It took a moment for the memories of the previous day to come back - but once they did, Eruka buried her face further into her pillow.

After Jackson had fed her tea and cookies, he'd stroked her hair sympathetically and sent her off to bed after extracting another promise to help him when she woke up.

Now that she was awake, however, slipping back into sleep sounded awfully attractive.

"Eruka!" came a muffled voice beyond her door followed by three loud knocks. "Is that you I hear moaning?"

"No," Eruka said into her pillow.

"You have five minutes! Hurry up or the pancakes will get cold!"

Jackson had a thing about breakfast food. Night and day were indistinguishable in the underworld, so he tended to cook his favourite food whenever. Being unable to cook herself, Eruka had a tendency to let him.

"Eruka!"

"I'm up!" she called, pushing off her covers. Ruefully, she magicked away the cotton feel from her mouth and the tangles from her hair. "That wasn't five minutes!"

Half an hour and a pile of pancakes later, Eruka stumbled out of the cabin behind Jackson. She still wasn't entirely sure how to feel about Free, and whenever his name arose in her mind a queer swirl of anger, guilt, misery, and sorrow twisted within her belly. Her eyes still stung from her miserable, snot-filled cry, and she now decided that the best way to deal with it was not to.

At least dealing with Jackson's missing soul would be a well-needed distraction.

"When it's not disturbing my work in the office, it likes to stay near the farm," Jackson said as they walked along the shore of the Styx towards his greenhouse.

Eruka grunted sadly.

"Gotta keep moving, Eruka. That's the only cure to heartache," Jackson said, kicking aside a large stone in his path. "I remember back in my youth a lovely young tadpole caught my eye. We promised each other we'd find a pond, have some tadpoles, and grow into old frogs together - she ended up leaving me for my father."

"Sharon was a bitch, Jackson."

"Yes, but that's not my point. If that hadn't happened I wouldn't have found you! Look at me now! Sharon-free and living thousands of years after her death with the goddess of the underworld."

Eruka frowned at Jackson's back. "...That's good, right?"

He waved his hands in the air. "My point is that sometimes things happen for a reason. This Free guy is hot stuff now, but in fifty years that thing he loves swaying all will-nilly between his thighs will be swinging a whole lot lower."

"He's immortal," Eruka reminded him.

Jackson's steps faltered a moment before he continued walking. "Ah, well. That is a shame. Granted, if anyone stays forever youthful, at least it's the nudist, right? I figure that's better for everyone."

If possible, Eruka felt her shoulders slump further. They reached Jackson's rickety greenhouse and she watched him gather his tools. For obvious reasons she didn't often visit the greenhouse, but from time to time she would sit by the open door and talk to Jackson as he worked. By Jackson's orders she wasn't allowed in, mostly due to the fact that she always brushed against some plant or other and killed it.

"Hey, Jackson?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think he was right? What he said about me?"

"Eruka, you've always been creepy," Jackson said, fumbling with a pitchfork he'd magicked to be his size. "Remember when you had that skull collection? Or that dog that you harvested nail clippings and eye boogers from? That was gross."

"That was for a spell," Eruka muttered. "Where is this soul you keep talking about?"

"See, I have hobbies like sewing curtains, gardening, and cooking. Normal hobbies."

Eruka rolled her eyes and slumped against the glass. "The soul, Jackson. You said it'd be here."

"Said what would be here?" asked Free.

Eruka shrieked and fell off her stool, arms flailing. Dog ran out from behind Free yipping, and two of its heads licked her face.

"Woah there, champ," Free laughed, reaching for her arm.

"I'm fine," Eruka snapped, pushing Dog off and shoving aside Free's arm. She hastily got to her feet and stepped aside, face red.

Free appeared unsure for a moment, before he took a step closer. "Look, Eruka, I want to apologize for yesterday. What I said-"

"I can't talk right now," Eruka interrupted, not quite looking Free in the eye. She rubbed her arm, dug her toes in the sand. "I'm helping Jackson with a missing soul."

"Oh," said Free, his flowers drooping slightly. "Uh, well, maybe I can help?"

Eruka tucked her hair behind her ear. "No. No, I don't-"

"It's here!" Jackson shouted, bursting out of the greenhouse. "I knew once I started anything halfway productive that bastard would stick its foot in my business!"

"Where?" asked Eruka, looking inside Jackson's tiny greenhouse. "I don't see it."

Jackson pushed past her, completely ignoring Free. "On the roof - I saw the nuisance poking its nose through the rafters."

Eruka backed up and looked on top of the small, thatched roof. Sure enough, a transparent white wisp perched atop the tiny building. It maintained a human shape, with glowing red eyes and a wispy mop atop its head that might have passed as hair. It opened its mouth in what may have been a grin, the illusion of jagged teeth appearing through the faint, glimmering light of its body.

"It's real?"

"You didn't believe me?!" Jackson sounded offended, turning on Eruka. She raised her hands in defense.

"So that's what they look like," Free said curiously. He took several steps closer to the soul, head tilted. "I'm going to name him Soul."

"Is that just how you name everything?" Eruka sniped.

"Oh, so you're talking to me now?"

Eruka bristled, face hot as she glared at him. Her mouth opened to retort when Jackson smacked her in the leg.

"Enough!" he shouted, pointing his tiny hand at the curious soul. "Get him!"

Grumbling, Eruka raised her hands to do as she was told, pointedly ignoring the curious stare Free was giving her. Black tendrils rose from the earth and shot towards its prey-careful not to touch anything within the greenhouse and risk Jackson's wrath. The soul jerked away from the smoky appendages, hissing and curling inward.

"Hurry!"

"I'm doing it, you don't have to be so-" Eruka faltered, frowning. The smoke refused to go near the soul, no matter how many times she wiggled her fingers at it. "Something's wrong."

" _Wrong_? Eruka-"

Eruka dropped her hands - causing the black smoke to dissipate - and approached the greenhouse. "Free, give me a boost."

"What?" Free startled.

"Just do it, please," Eruka said, wondering if the heat in her cheeks was going to be a permanent feature now. In the silence that followed, Eruka shuffled closer to the building. "Or don't, I don't care."

"Okay, okay, no need to get snippy," Free said, his voice much closer to Eruka now. She felt his hands gently cup her waist. "I was just surprised is all."

Eruka sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little sensitive tod-"

"Up you go!"

"FREEE!" Eruka screeched as she was catapulted up the side of the greenhouse and over the top. The soul watched her in that curious way of his, head tilted, and Eruka managed to take advantage of his interest by hooking an arm around his neck.

The soul hissed and choked but Eruka hung on as they hurtled together towards the ground. Before they could hit however, a burst of colourful flowers pushed out from the black sand to cushion their fall. The soul wiggled under her arm, hissing, legs and arms thrashing as it desperately tried to free itself.

"Eruka! Are you okay?" Free called, rushing over, a hint of guilty amusement in his voice. He tried to take the soul from her but his hands just went through the astral body. After several attempts he settled on clasping Eruka under her free arm and helping her gently to her feet. "I didn't mean to toss you that hard."

"It's alright," Eruka grunted, pushing aside dying flowers. "Jackson?"

"Yes?" Jackson answered, rushing over.

"This soul is cursed," she said, still struggling with the angry soul. "How did it get past screening?"

"Well  _Eruka_ ," Jackson began, in a way that Eruka knew meant she would regret asking, "I have been running the underworld mostly by myself for the last several years due to the fact that my  _partner_ has been off staring at-"

"Okay, we get it," Eruka gritted out. " _Thank you,_ Jackson." Today was clearly a day where she was going to constantly be embarrassed.

"What does it mean when a soul is cursed?" asked Free, graciously ignoring the current topic.

"It's basically an umbrella term we use when there's an abnormality in a soul," Eruka explained. "Sometimes a soul really is cursed, but more often than not the soul went through a traumatic event prior to its death. Because of it, they don't mingle well with the other souls and they can get loose."

"How do you fix it?"

"Usually they're screened prior to coming in, where the problem souls get purified, but this guy got through. There's a spell we can do, but it gets more complicated once the soul is actually in the underworld-the miasma down here makes them stronger."

"The spell takes several months. It's a drag," Jackson supplied, slumped down in Eruka's abandoned stool.

"So then this guy'll be with us for a while then?" Free said, watching the soul.

"Unfortunately."

"Then Soul can stay with me!"

Dog barked.

Soul hissed and gurgled beneath Eruka's arm.

Quite unable to distinguish how it happened, Eruka found herself once again sitting around her dining room table with Jackson, Free, Dog, and "Soul". She imagined it was some magical skill of Jackson's - the ability to lure unsuspecting victims to his supper table to feed them breakfast.

"French toast is ready!" Jackson sang from the kitchen, balancing several plates on his arm, and levitating several more in the air around him. "I also cut up some fruit and brought flowers from my garden for some  _ambiance_. Don't touch those please, Eruka."

Eruka glared.

"Delicious as always, Jackson!" Free said, already digging in. Jackson beamed, and immediately after turned accusing eyes to Eruka.

"So nice to be appreciated."

"I appreciate you," Eruka snapped.

Soul, for his part, simply glared from his chair like a petulant teenager. As such, the urge to treat him like one was uncontrollable, and Eruka found herself having to resist the urge to pinch his cheek on several occasions.

"So is it alright if he stays with me?" Free asked. "Dog and I have a real nice set up next to the pome-...fruit trees," he quickly amended at Eruka's glare. "He would fit right in."

"On one condition," Eruka said, causing Free to perk up in clear surprise. The amount of shock on his face irritated her so much she almost retracted the statement. It wasn't like she was unreasonable. "I can do a temporary binding spell on him that will keep him tied to you and out of trouble, but I want both of you to wear pants.  _Both_ of you. You're traumatising poor Jackson."

Free looked scandalized.

"No pants, no pet soul!" Eruka said before Free could reply.

Jackson frowned, french toast halfway to his mouth. "Is this ethical?"

"No! Pants are not ethical!"

"He's talking about giving you a pet that used to be human, you idiot!  _Pants_  are not unethical, Free!"

"You know what's unethical?!  _Stalking!_ "

Eruka squawked, red faced. "Why you-!"

"Eruka!" Jackson shouted, rising from his chair. He looked concerned, staring hard into the distance. "Maba's people are here."

As soon as he said it, Eruka felt it too: an eerie tickle at the back of her neck that told her another presence had entered her realm. It wasn't Maba herself - not even Free would've been able to distract her from that - but a group of messengers with her magic signature.

Eruka's hands went into her hair. "Fuck." She looked at Free. " _Fuck_."

" _Hades!_ " a voice yelled from outside the cabin. " _As messengers of Zeus, we demand an audience!_ "

"I need to hide," Eruka whispered, diving under the table. Her body trembled as she curled around a table leg. The beat of her heart made breathing difficult, and she focused on the feel of her nails digging into the skin of her palms as her skin tingled with rising sweat.

"Eruka, if we hide from this, it'll only get worse," Jackson whispered beside her, making her jump. At some point he'd crawled in beside her, and was now patting her shoulder soothingly. She noted absently that Free, Soul, and even Dog were peeking under the table with concern. "If we talk to them, we may be able to sway their decision."

Eruka met Free's eyes; she wasn't sure why - he was the reason she was in this situation - but his answering smile bolstered what meager confidence she held. Taking a deep breath and exhaling shakily, Eruka rose from her crouch and pulled herself out from under the table.

"Okay," she said, trembling still. "Okay. I can do this, I can do this -  _I can't do this."_ Just as Eruka shrunk back from the front door taunting her, a gentle hand clasped her under the arm.

"It's alright," said Free quietly. He walked her over to one of the chairs and helped her down. "I'll go. You stay here."

After several deep breaths, Eruka pushed off the chair and grabbed Free's hand. "No, I'm going. But you're coming, too," she paused, suddenly aware that sounded too much like a demand. Staring up at his amused gaze, she added a breathless, "Please."

He smiled. "Of course."

"Okay," Eruka breathed, turning to face the door. She hadn't let go of Free's hand and she squeezed it in hers. Jackson was on her other side, and she sensed that Soul and Dog were following as well. No doubt they would complicate matters, but Eruka could only focus on pulling down the handle and opening the door. "You can do it, Eruka," she said under her breath, her heartbeat a painful rhythm.

Eruka pulled the door open and a flash of light beamed from the outside, blinding them.

Soul hissed, and Jackson cursed. "I always forget how bright they are. It's like they're compensating for something."

"Quiet Jackson," Eruka hushed. "They'll hear you."

"Too late."

Eruka squinted through the light and saw a woman in a leather skirt and armour, a shield at her back. Several soldiers dressed similarly stood behind her, but she was clearly the leader. She had faded blonde hair tied up in pigtails with twine, and she didn't look happy. The effects of the underworld were no doubt taking their toll on her, but the stubborn set of the woman's mouth told Eruka that she would rather die than show it.

Eruka heard Soul gasp from behind her.

"Maka, isn't it?" Eruka called, stepping down onto the sand. She detangled her fingers from Free's, knowing that acting close to him wouldn't help her cause. She felt the loss immediately.

"Yes," Maka answered, arms crossed. "You would know if you'd ever bothered to show up to our meetings." Those eerily empty green eyes darted behind Eruka. "You're looking well Jackson. Get those rhododendrons planted?"

"Ah, yes," Jackson said hurriedly. "And blooming."

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Eruka asked, unease growing when Maka's calm gaze shifted to her.

"Hades, you are charged with freeing the being known as Free: the immortal werewolf who attacked Zeus's kingdom, stole Zeus's left eye, and stole the powers of Demeter by killing her."

Eruka froze, suddenly and violently nauseous. "What...?" she breathed.

"That bitch killed my family!" Free roared, but Maka obviously didn't care as her attention remained solely on Eruka.

"If you do not return the prisoner within three days, Zeus, otherwise known as Maba, will declare war on you. Choose wisely, Hades, lest you turn out like your predecessor."

"I can't give him back," Eruka said. "He's eaten the food of the underworld."

"Then war is your only option."

Shaking, Eruka looked at Free. He returned her gaze calmly. She found sympathy in his expression, but no guilt, or any other emotion that might imply that he regretted his actions. Without warning, her legs gave out and Eruka stared blankly ahead. "War," she choked.

Before her eyes, Free's face crumbled and he was next to her in an instant, a flurry of purple hyacinth sprouting behind him. "I'm sorry, Eruka. I'm sorry I lied."

When Eruka could only stare back at him, he collected her hands in his own and squeezed them gently. "Please, just… Demeter killed my entire clan, Eruka. Maba helped her. When they caught me I couldn't die so they locked me in that prison-which I promise you was not that nice when I was first thrown in there." He paused a moment, sighing. "If you knew, I didn't think you'd help me."

"You're right," Eruka said numbly. She sighed, rubbing at her eyes. "Was this your plan from the beginning? War?"

Free shook his head hurriedly. "No! I swear, I just wanted to be free! Even if I wanted Maba dead I would never put you at risk like that. Please, believe me."

Eruka slumped further into the sand. "Jackson?"

"Right here, Eruka," Jackson said, sounding as resigned as she felt.

"Get out the spell books. We're going to war."

…..

Eruka slammed the tome on the kitchen table, aware but mostly unconcerned that everyone had followed her into her home and were looking curiously over her shoulder. The book was dusty, the pages fragile and thin beneath her fingers as she turned them carefully. She skimmed the pages as best she could, mumbling words as her eyes passed over them.

"Jackson are you sure this is the right book?" she muttered, turning a fifth page.

"If it isn't, I don't know what to tell you. That was the only red-bound book with gold lettering in the library."

"Mmm," Eruka hummed, back to focusing on the pages before her.

"What are you doing here, by the way?" she heard Free ask behind her, sounding more guarded than she'd ever heard him before. It was out of character, and Eruka was about to reply when someone else spoke instead.

"I've been tasked to remain in the underworld until either Hades agrees to return you, or until the three days has ended," answered Maka.

"Well that hardly sounds suspicious. Why would Maba leave her soldiers in the territory of a potential enemy?" Free asked, voice chillingly polite.

Maka's response was equally curt. "Perhaps she trusts the ability of her people."

Out of the corner of her eye, Eruka noticed Free was leaning back against the wall beside her, several inches to her left. His forearms were crossed over his chest, drawing her eye to the soft hairs of his skin.

" _You're staying?_ " asked another voice, equal parts far away and incredibly close. It was soft, like all spectral voices, but held a smooth edge that was unique to the individual.

"It can talk?" Maka asked, startled.

"Of course he can talk," scoffed Jackson. "Try getting him to shut up. Bastard once told me his entire life story while I was trimming the roses."

Dog barked.

As the voices continued to chatter amongst themselves, more or less contentedly, Eruka felt herself drown them out to focus once more on the task at hand. Until, of course, one particular voice whispered smoothly in her ear.

"Sorry I yelled at you," Free said quietly. "Before. At breakfast-or, uh, lunch? I get sensitive about pants."

"Shut up, Free."

He sighed. "Would you just listen, please?"

"I'm busy."

"Look, nudity wasn't a big deal in my clan. And  _no_ , before you ask we weren't nudist or anything creepy. Most of the time it was just easier after shifting from the wolf to stay naked. Before…" Free cleared his throat, visibly struggling to keep whatever was in him contained, "before Maba killed them, outsiders and hunters considered it a mark of shame. Any werewolf found nude was humiliated and killed."

Eruka noted how his teeth grew sharp in his gums, and remembered faintly how claws had scraped her foot one languid afternoon under the sun. Without meaning to, Eruka at some point had fully turned towards Free.

"So this," she gestured vaguely at Free's person, "is a tribute to your people?"

He frowned. "I don't know. Maybe? I think it's more for me than anything." A small, conspiratorial smile as he nudged Eruka's shoulder with his. "Pants are scratchy."

It was dumb, and it hardly made sense, but Eruka had to look away as a sudden feeling of shyness took over.

"I still haven't forgiven you for lying," she muttered, not quite as harshly as she'd intended.

"Then I'll just have to grovel until you do."

Eruka smiled stupidly down at her hands.

"What is a soul doing running around free, anyways? Aren't there rules about this?"

Maka's voice drew Eruka away from the warm happy place she'd been dozing in. Shaking her head in mortification, and hoping nobody noticed, Eruka returned to the text before her. She hurriedly flipped the page, ignoring the shake of her hand. Free was clearly not good for her health.

"His name is Soul," Free supplied helpfully.

"Soul the soul?" Maka repeated, clearly skeptical.

" _Do you like music?_ " asked Soul. " _We could make music together_."

In the thick silence that followed, Free laughed awkwardly and said, "Okay, dial it back a bit, buddy."

"FOUND IT!" Eruka shouted triumphantly, halting the growing tension behind her. Her finger carefully traced the list of ingredients required for the spell detailed before her. "Jackson, I need clover, oak bark, and mint leaves. Soul, go get chalk and a shovel from the shed. Free, collect stones by the shore, please. Larger ones if possible. Dog, follow me."

As everyone shuffled into action, Maka alone remained standing in the living room.

"...You named the dog, Dog?"

Finding the oak bark was a touch more difficult than initially planned, and two of Dog's heads were particularly reluctant to give up their collective toe clippings, but after Soul found the missing jar of oak, and Free wrestled Dog's two disobedient heads, things went relatively smoothly.

"Jackson, how's the circle?" Eruka called, standing up from the river Styx with a jar full of the glowing water.

"Almost done!" Jackson yelled from across the beach. He stood beside Free, directing him in placing stones in a large circle. Eruka stared longer than perhaps was proper when Free bent over to rotate one of the stones.

Beside her, Soul pointedly cleared a throat he didn't have.

"Oh, shut up  _music man_ ," Eruka muttered, stomping off.

Soul drifted contentedly beside her, humming Maka's name with his otherworldly voice. If her own love life wasn't in such turmoil, Eruka would almost feel bad for the guy. When stomping through sand got too tiring, Eruka slowed to a walk and sighed. She turned to Soul to apologize, or maybe complain more, but found his gaze locked somewhere in the distance. When Eruka followed his stare, she found Maka and her small group of soldiers sitting around a small fire, sharpening their weapons.

"Do you really think you have a chance?" Eruka asked, genuinely curious.

" _I can be charming,_ " Soul insisted. " _The trick is to be cool and considerate."_

Eruka looked from Soul's confident swagger to Maka, who had yet to look up from her weapon. "And how's that working out for you?"

" _Give it time_."

Shaking her head, Eruka reached over and ruffled Soul's odd looking hair.

" _Hey! I just got it perfect!_ "

"Eruka! Quit playing around and get over here. I want to make biscuits before bed," Jackson said as they arrived at the circle, adjusting a final stone. "Everything is good over here. You just need to put the water with the clover, mint, and bark in the centre."

"Roger that," Eruka said, lifting the hem of her dress as she stepped delicately into the circle. She felt the magic already brewing shoot up her leg and tingle pleasantly at the base of his spine. It took several steps to reach the centre of the circle, her hair dancing with crackling magic-eager to be released.

Once in the centre, Eruka placed the jar of water in a small hole dug up in the sand. After taking a measured breath, Eruka closed her eyes and willed the eager magic to flow from the edges of the circle inward and up through the soles of her feet.

"Kaeroggu froeruu gekoeru furoggu," she chanted, fingers twisted together.

In her mind she visualised the underworld shutting down, enclosing the space and forbidding any immortal or godly being from entering. She heard the magic working, bursting free to do her bidding, but still she continued to chant, imagining words of protection and security as she did so.  _Shut, close, protect, guard._

When the magic had left all but a tiny flame within her chest, Eruka stopped the spell and dropped thankfully to her knees.

"There," she breathed, leaning back against Jackson who had rushed over to her side. "That'll give us time to think up a new spell."

"New spell?" Free asked, standing just outside the circle.

"This will only hold off Maba for so long," explained Jackson, his expression grim. "It's a temporary solution."

"At least until we find something more permanent," Eruka added.

"You aren't going to fight her?"

"No," Eruka swallowed. "We wouldn't stand a chance."


	3. Chapter 3

"He's doing it again."

Eruka raised her head and squinted across the water. She and Jackson were rocking gently in a boat on the river Styx, tagging the souls that had slipped by when Eruka had been... otherwise occupied with Free.

"Again?" she muttered, letting go of the soul's arm that she had gripped in her hand. It screamed woefully as it was sucked back into the river, the souls already trapped below wrapping around it in morbid welcome. Eruka reached into the satchel at her waist full of rainbow candy stars and, picking out a light pink one, dropped it in after the soul. "You'd think he'd learn."

"The heart wants what it wants," said Jackson, who then turned to eye Eruka meaningfully. "Even if it's  _wrong_."

From the distance, the sound of Maka's shield slamming into Soul's head rang throughout the cavernous walls of Hades, followed closely by his ghostly grunt. For some reason that Eruka couldn't yet fathom, Maka was able to hit Soul with her weapons. When asked, Maka had said it was due to their divine properties, but Eruka wasn't so sure. Either way, Maka didn't seem to be hurting Soul too badly, so Eruka let it be.

Turning away from the spectacle, Eruka focused a glare on Jackson. "If that's a dig at Free, you've already made your opinion  _quite_  clear, thank you."

He ignored her. "Sure he's got the body, but has he got," Jackson clenched his tiny fist, "the  _substance_?"

Eruka looked over by the pomegranate trees, where Free sat rubbing Dog's belly among a sea of flowers. Since his arrival, they'd grown in staggering abundance in and around his makeshift camp. "Substance?"

"The  _man_  behind the muscle."

"I mean, it's right there in plain sight-"

"Not  _that_ ," Jackson snapped, glaring at Eruka when she laughed.

She was quick to sober, however, as she watched Free frolic in the distance, her fingers curling inward as something in her stomach hardened.

"To be honest," Eruka said. "I think it's best if I think about Free a bit less from now on."

"A little late for that, don't you think?"

"...I think I might make him uncomfortable."

Jackson's shock was clear. "You might make  _him_ uncomfortable?  _The nudist?_ "

Eruka sighed. "Look, Jackson, you heard what he said yesterday. He thinks…" her voice lowered, looking to Free cautiously before returning to Jackson's incredulous gaze, " _he thinks I'm a stalker_."

"You  _are_."

" _Jackson!_ "

"Look, just do the rest of us a favour and talk to him. The tension is giving  _me_  anxiety."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Eruka muttered.

With more force than necessary, Eruka reached over the rim of the boat into the river. The water of the Styx wasn't water, at least not to Eruka. If anyone else were to touch it, they would find themselves touching regular, albeit very cold, river water. For Eruka, when she submerged her arm she felt no wet sensation, just a blistering cold that left her bones aching.

Now, as her fingers brushed the arms, faces, and hair of various souls, a feeling of "otherness" shot through her. "Can you pass me a tag?" she asked Jackson, adjusting herself in the boat. "I found another one."

Reluctantly, Jackson looked away from the drama taking place on the shore and waddled over to Eruka with a bag of tags. She pulled the wailing soul out of the water, quickly wrapped a tag around its wrist, and then watch it be sucked back into the river with a  _pop_. She dropped another star candy into the river and watched the soul gobble it up, waving when it blinked dolefully up at her.

"Break for dinner?" she asked as she leaned away, already willing the souls to pull the boat back to shore. "We're almost out of candy."

"You feed them far too much of that stuff," Jackson said, but he was already looking back to the drama stewing on the shore. "Oh, and Eruka?"

"Mm?"

" _Talk to him_."

Eruka just grumbled in response.

... .

"You need to reign in your soul," Maka said tersely, cutting a touch too aggressively into her eggs benedict. "He's far too familiar."

"His  _name_  is Soul," Free said around a mouthful of frittata. His fork was pointed at Maka, which caused her face to pinch further in distaste. "And you should be nicer to him."

"He  _refuses_  to leave me to my business."

"And you smack him around. I figure you both have some apologizing to do."

Eruka watched the exchange silently. She mostly agreed with Free, but was less inclined to cross Maka when her face looked like it did. She'd seen the woman practicing with her fellow warriors, and the slice of her blade never missed.

Jackson, for his part, was eating up the drama. After he had cooked everyone their favourite breakfast, they'd all gathered around the dining table like a weird, makeshift family. Maka had been invited as a liaison of sorts, but Eruka suspected that Jackson just wanted to watch more drama unfold between her and Soul.

" _Can I have some food?_ " a wispy voice asked, and Eruka turned to find Soul looking at her from his seat across the table, red eyes earnest. " _I want hash browns_."

She set down her fork carefully, frowning. "Soul, you know you can't eat."

"Have you ever tried it?" Free asked, having apparently cut off his conversation with Maka. He sat in the seat next to Eruka, and the table was so full that she felt the brush of his forearm against her skin when he breathed.

He was making it very difficult to not be creepy.

"Well, no," Eruka admitted. With his attention now focused on her, Free had leaned even closer, and the warmth of his skin was a maddening constant. Fighting the desire to simply fall against the comfort of him, Eruka tried to be subtle while scooting her chair further away. By the raised eyebrow he sent her, she'd failed.

Rubbing her reddened face with a sigh, Eruka took a moment to think. "We give them candy as a reward system, but they don't actually eat it…" she looked up just in time to see Soul's spectral face fall, "...but I don't see why we can't try if you want to."

" _I want to try_ ," Soul said, determined. Eruka noticed his gaze drift to Maka as he said it, and she wondered what food would do to get him closer to the warrior. Not that her romantic endeavors were going much better.

"We'll use magic. It's more a matter of will than anything."

The clatter of cutlery slamming against the table had everyone looking to Maka, who stood glaring down at Eruka.

"This is not what you should be focusing on!" she thundered. "It's been an entire day since I've arrived and when I thought you'd  _finally_  invited me here to talk politics, all we've done is eat  _breakfast_  for  _dinner,_ when you should be preparing for war! Are  _none_  of you concerned?"

Soul flinched, and Eruka watched Maka hesitate a moment at the action, but she appeared to remain resolute when she turned back to Eruka. "You especially, as the acting Hades, should be more worried with the coming attack."

"We've already made moves to defend against the attack," Jackson said. Eruka appreciated it, especially considering he had been voicing the same concerns to her behind closed doors.

"Yeah, back off," Free growled, leaning forward. "Besides, why would we strategize with the enemy at our table?"

"Enemy?" Maka snapped back. "I am  _not_  your -  _I'm not_ , I..." The words seemed to catch in her throat, choking her.

Face an angry red, Maka slammed her fists against the table with a growl. She appeared to struggle for another moment, opening her mouth wordlessly, before whirling on her heel and leaving the dining room. Her stomping departure was followed shortly by the slamming of the front door.

"What has her pigtails in a twist?" Free muttered.

"She's bespelled to never turn against Maba," Eruka said, frowning. "I wonder if that was an attempt to?"

" _You shouldn't be mad at her_ ," Soul said, resting his head in his hand. " _She's really very sweet_."

"Sweet?" Free scoffed. "An hour ago she nearly collapsed a cave with her fist."

Soul's face contorted in a ghostly smile, slumping dreamily down onto the table. " _Yeah, she's great_."

Giving him a motherly tut, Jackson motioned at Soul to stand up. "You young people and your infatuations," he said. "Come with me and we'll work on that spell. Wouldn't want a member of the family to go without my breakfast. C'mon, Dog. You come too."

As Dog scrambled up from his place under the table, it occurred to Eruka that Jackson was probably flattered by Soul's desire for his hash browns. Her amusement immediately faded, however, when Jackson turned to her and mouthed " _talk to him_ " as he, Dog, and Soul left the dining room.

The door shut behind them like a prison sentence, and suddenly Eruka was presented with the reality of being alone with the very big, very naked man of her affections.

Free didn't seem to notice her anxiety, or at least he was doing a very good job at politely ignoring it.

"So…" Eruka began after a moment, folding her hands together. "I think we should talk."

"Do  _you_  think we should talk?" Free asked, cleaning off his plate. Eruka watched his knife and fork move expertly, the metal clinking loud against the porcelain plate. "Or does Jackson?"

She fiddled with a loose strand on her dress. "Both I suppose. It's about something I've been meaning to ask. Something rather important."

"What's that?"

In the distance, the sound of Jackson scolding Soul could be heard, something about minding the roots. A responding ghostly - and rather grumpy - yell soon followed.

"Do you mind - can we maybe do this in my bedroom?" Eruka asked, already standing. "I can put a sound proof spell on the door so we'd have a bit of privacy."

Free raised his tattooed brow. "Will we need it?" he asked, though he was already standing to join her.

"It's a delicate topic," Eruka muttered as she led him around the table and down the hall to her room. Her shoulders were hunched as she shuffled to the door, and when she looked behind her Free stood several feet away, expression confused but kind as he regarded her.

Without breaking eye contact, Eruka opened the door and walked backwards into the confines of her room. When Free followed her in, his feet passing over the entrance, and she willed the room to project only silence as the door closed behind him.

It would hopefully be enough to keep Jackson from listening in.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Eruka took a deep breath. "So, what I wanted to say was-"

"What's that?" Free interrupted, tone filled with unhidden glee. He brushed past Eruka and walked further into the room towards a small shelf in the corner. Frowning, Eruka craned her head to see around his bulk to where he was headed.

Her stomach instantly drop down to her feet.

Her hand drawn Free portrait.

" _Noo!"_  Eruka screeched, launching across the room to clutch the pink picture frame to her abdomen. She wouldn't normally treat the picture with such disrespect, but this was an emergency. " _You didn't see anything!_ "

"Hey, now," Free said, hands up in a placating manner. "I thought it was pretty good."

Eruka faltered. "...Really?"

"Yeah, the shading on my butt is really good."

Eruka looked down at the image, then back up at Free. She smiled hesitantly. "Thank you."

"Can I see it?"

"I drew it from memory last year," she said, watching him examine the portrait closely. Her heart thrilled at the pleased smile on his face. "Actually… that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?"

Eruka took a moment to collect herself. "I wanted to make sure… that… you weren't uncomfortable. Around me."

Free looked up from the frame, eyes furrowing. "Uncomfortable?"

Eruka felt her face flush. "Just with the all of the, uh..."

"Stalking?"

"Yes." The word was said with a sigh.

Free laughed, one of his large hands reaching over to land on her shoulder. "Eruka, I like you. You're sweet, and a little weird, and you like Dog, and you can kill stuff with your fingers."

"...But?" Eruka hedged.

"No buts," he said, smiling. "I am terribly fond of you, and I think you like me, too."

"So…?"

"So you don't make me uncomfortable." His expression turned suddenly concerned as he frowned. "Do I make  _you_  uncomfortable? I've lied to you.  _And_  I refuse to wear clothes."

"I like when you don't wear clothes," Eruka admitted, reaching out to touch his forearm. "And I understand why you lied, at least I'm trying to. I've forgiven you for it, mostly."

"Sometimes I wish you would  _stop_  wearing clothes," Free said, his eyes watching her meaningfully. "It's weird."

Eruka smiled, though she tried to fight it. Her heart was beating a heavy rhythm in her chest, and she looked away quickly to hide her pleasure. "Yeah?"

She felt his fingers gently tuck her hair aside before a pair of smiling lips pressed against her cheek.

"Yeah."

When he went to move away, Eruka reached out to touch his shoulder, halting his movements. The moment was weighted somehow, and Eruka found it difficult to breath as her fingers trembled against his skin.

"Eruka?"

"Can I try something?" she breathed, not quite able to meet his eye.

"Okay."

Tentatively, Eruka pushed with her fingers against Free till he began backing up. She led him towards the bed, still unable to look anywhere near his eyes.

"Eruka?" he whispered, voice gravelly.

The back of Free's legs reached the edge of her bed, and Eruka's palm landed flat against the warm flesh of his shoulder. He said her name again.

She wished he would stop doing that.

Or maybe she wished he wouldn't stop.

Finally, she willed herself to look up. The heat in his gaze seared her, and her throat went dry at the sight. Swallowing thickly, Eruka reached with her free hand to his other shoulder. His skin was warmer, now hot to the touch as she pushed on him until he was forced to fall down on the worn sheets of her bed.

"Are you okay?" she breathed, hands moving up his chest and neck to cup just beneath his jaw.

"Yeah," he swallowed, adding, "are you?"

Eruka felt her lips twitch. "Yeah."

And then she fell against him, swallowing the grunt brought on by her weight. His arms automatically wrapped around her, pulling her closer against his chest. They felt secure and warm around her, and Eruka hummed at the sensation.

"Oh,  _Gods,_  this is actually happening," Free groaned between kisses. His hand moved to stroke her hair, twisting it between his fingers, as though just to feel the sensation of it.

As he spoke, Eruka felt him harden beneath her, and she twisted on his lap to better cradle him between her thighs. He gasped into her mouth, breath hitching, and Eruka took the opportunity to kiss her way down his cheek to the curve of his neck.

"Eruka," Free panted.

She arched against him in reply, sucking sharply on his pulse point.

"Eruka," he moaned, pulling her away from his neck. When the daze left her eyes, Free reached up and cupped her cheek, pecking her quickly on the mouth before saying, "Eruka, tell me what to do."

Chest heaving, it occurred to Eruka for the first time that Free was as new to this as she was. "Oh," she gasped. "Um. Here."

Going on instinct, and several raunchy paperback novels, Eruka slipped her arms through the neck hole of her dress. She pushed the top half down to her waist and looked up to see Free's wide eyed stare.

"What do you think?" Eruka asked, somewhat nervously.

Even if she couldn't feel his approval throbbing between her thighs, the heated weight of his gaze was enough to have her flushing with pleasure. Wordlessly, Free reached for her, fingertips brushing her ribcage so lightly that she trembled. He stroked the edge of her breast with his thumb, then pressed a kiss to her nipple.

"I've wanted this longer than you can imagine," Eruka told him quietly.

"You'd be surprised," Free said into her clavicle, kissing up her collarbone. He pulled her down so that she lay on top of him, their chests pressed together. "I've imagined this for quite a long time, myself."

Eruka tangled their fingers together and stretched them overhead. Their mouths met again, and Eruka nibbled on the bottom of Free's lip as she began a grinding rhythm against him, needing to ease the ache between her legs.

Free growled a pleased response, his own hips lifting up to buck against hers. His nails lengthened till Eruka felt tiny pricks where their hands were clasped, and the crisp hair of his chest rubbed pleasantly against her nipples.

"God, you smell so good," Free hissed against her mouth, and Eruka licked his incisor in response.

But soon they were simply panting against one another as the rhythm increased to a fevered tempo. Eruka pushed up, hands on Free's shoulders, attempting to get more leverage as she grinded faster, harder. It wasn't long before they were both crying out in completion, Free first, and Eruka soon after, and they were left collapsed and panting against one another.

As their bodies cooled, Free's hand reached up to stroke at Eruka's hair, starting at the top of her head and finishing at the base of her spine. It was after the fourth stroke that Eruka began to cry.

At first they were silent, but soon grew into violent, hiccuping sobs that had Free jerking upright.

"Eruka!" he cried, catching her when she would have rolled off him. "Eruka, honey, what's wrong?"

Eruka hid her face in his neck, breathing in the earthy, floral scent of his skin. She then proceeded to smear snot all over his shoulder. She opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was another hiccuping wail.

"Was it that bad?" Free asked with a shaky laugh, as though only half joking. He cupped her cheek, rubbing away tears. Eruka shook her head, but it was all she managed aside from her sobs. It took several minutes, with Free anxiously patting her back and kissing her hair, but Eruka finally calmed as she leaned against Free with a huff.

"It's this conflict with Maba," she said at last. "I know I haven't said much about it, but what Maka said was right. This threat is serious, and there's no way out of it."

"And I've put you in this situation," Free finished gravely.

Eruka shook her head. "No. Well, yes, but this has been brewing long before I ever met you. She's gotten impatient with me."

Free twisted a lock of her hair round his finger. He sighed. "I know I said I wouldn't, but if it meant saving you from this, I'd go back to that prison."

"I know you would," Eruka said around a sniffle. "That's why you're worth fighting for. You don't deserve to live in that prison. I just don't know how I'm going to get out of this."

"Get out of it?"

"We can only defend for so long, after all."

Free shook his head with an incredulous laugh. "Then  _don't_  defend."

Eruka turned in surprise. "What?"

"Don't defend," he said. "Eruka, you have a literal army down here with you. Just have the dead fight for you and you can't lose."

"Why would they care? They aren't being threatened."

"I see you give them those little candies, and I reckon they like you a whole lot better than their last Hades. Even if they don't, offer them something. I bet most would do it just for something to do."

"But…"

Free took hold of her shoulders. "Eruka, you aren't alone in this. Jackson, me, Dog, Soul - we're all here for you. So let us help you."

Eruka stared into his resolute gaze for a long moment, felt the anxiety within her gut untwist slightly.

"Ok," she breathed.

"We're going to war," Eruka said the next day, only the faintest quiver in her voice. "We are going to fight Maba, and we are going to win."

"What!?" Jackson squawked.

"We're going to fight," Eruka repeated, "using the souls."

That morning Eruka had woken warm and happy with Free's nose at her collarbone and his hand up her nightgown. Their limbs had been tangled and she'd hugged his head tightly to her breast at some point in the night.

In that moment the happiness she'd felt had pushed aside any remaining reservations that she'd had about fighting. Free made her happy, and that happiness was worth fighting for.

If not for him, than for herself.

"That...could work," Jackson considered. "Do you think they would agree to it?"

"We'll offer them a deal. An area for them to reside for good behaviour. The evil souls will have to remain beneath the river, but if we can create a reward system, they may be willing to fight."

"And if they turn on us?"

" _They won't_ ," Soul said, a plate of hashbrowns set before him to practice eating. A small charm hung from his fork. " _It's a good idea. They like you, they'll fight for you._ "

"Even if they do, it won't be enough against Maba, Eruka. You know that," Jackson warned.

"Dog and I will be fighting too," said Free, patting Dog under the table. "Soul, can we count on you?"

" _Of course_." Soul sounded offended that Free even asked.

Eruka smiled at Soul before turning to address the group once more. "I think we should ask Maka for help."

Free's head jerked around to face her. "You what?" he asked. She hadn't told him about this part of the plan. "She  _works_  for Maba."

"You saw her yesterday," Eruka said. "I think she's trying to help us - or at least help herself by getting away from Maba."

"She would certainly be an asset," Jackson allowed.

"And what if she turns on us?" Free asked. "She's strong enough to cause a major wrench in our plans."

" _She wouldn't do that_ ," Soul argued, pausing in his attempts to eat a hashbrown. " _I think Eruka's right, she wants to help. Maba's awful to her._ "

"Maka aside, will we have time to organize all this?" said Jackson. "Tomorrow afternoon is the deadline and we really haven't been doing much of anything except worry."

"Which I take full blame for, believe me. But now we have a plan and whether we like it or not, this thing is happening so we'd better be prepared for it."

Eruka pulled out a sheet of notes she'd scribbled over breakfast, flattening it out in front of her. "Alright. Jackson, I need you and Soul to prep some offensive spells."

"We can do that, but we might need Free to lift some stones," Jackson said, looking over at the wolfman. "Do you mind?"

Free shrugged. "M'not doing anything else."

"Good." Eruka nodded. "While you do that, I'll talk to the souls in the river. Afterward, and if no one objects, Soul and I can try and feel Maka out to see if she'd be willing to help us. Sound good?"

At the collective shrugging and bobbing of heads, Eruka clapped her hands together. "Right. Let's go!"

... .

The water was an icy rush as Eruka stepped barefoot into the river Styx. It offered no resistance, simply brushed against her body as she slowly descended further into the belly of Hades. The hair on her arms raised, both from the cold and the eeriness below.

Once fully submerged, she opened her eyes to the world under the river. Her movement was slowed, and a glowing haze permeated around her like a thick miasma. She had only fully been beneath the Styx twice since become Hades: once out of curiosity, and the other because Jackson dropped his favourite lunchbox and the souls refused to give it back.

Despite its eeriness, Eruka didn't feel unwelcome. In fact, it was a bit disturbing how peaceful she felt among the souls.

They looked at her now, thousands upon thousands of souls, each with glimmering, red eyes. Every soul was unique in appearance, all varying sizes with faces that were shadows of the ones they had on earth.

"Hades?" one asked.

"She's come back!" another wailed.

In a swarm the dead moved towards her, arms outstretched longingly. When they were several feet away they stopped, however, creating a tight circle around Eruka. They watched her with round eyes, whispering amongst themselves.

"You haven't visited in quite some time," a large soul said, and others stepped aside to allow him room to speak.

"I know, and I'm sorry," Eruka said. "I'll be the first to admit that I haven't been the best Hades. But today I've come because I need you all to do something for me. If you're willing."

He folded his great arms, regarded her with a tilted head. "What is it?" he asked.

"Maba is coming tomorrow and we're going to war," Eruka said, attempting to keep her voice calm. "I'm here to ask you to fight with me."

"Will you give us candy?" a tallish looking soul piped in, peeking through the crowd. "I have 3045 in my collection."

"I have something better in mind," Eruka said, which caused a series of murmurs. "If you agree to help, we'll set up an area… away from here. With flowers. And you'll be free to leave the river as you please."

A knot of nerves twisted in her gut as Eruka watched the soul's discuss with one another. Her proposal sounded less impressive now that she was presenting the idea publicly. They seemed to have set up a functioning community beneath the river, and she wasn't sure that the lure of leaving it was good enough anymore.

They couldn't defeat Maba without the souls.

Finally, the large soul from earlier broke off from the group and stepped up to Eruka. "We'll do it," he said, "but we ask for an additional 20 candy stars each."

"Really?" Eruka exclaimed, louder than she meant to. "Yes, we can absolutely do that!"

"And we also want you to visit us more. At least once a week."

"I can do that, too," Eruka assured seriously. "You have my word as Hades."

"Then we will gladly fight for you," said the soul, bowing its head grandly.

…

Free was adjusting a large rock when Eruka rose out of the river. He stood upright just as she began running, a grin split on her face. The sand kicked up against her legs but she didn't care, her mind set solely on reaching Free.

He looked at her a second before she launched into his arms, and she heard his surprised laugh in her ear as he twirled her around. "They said yes," she told him. "They'll fight!"

"Eruka?" asked a surprised Jackson.

Free allowed Eruka to slide down till her feet touched the sand, and when she turned back to Jackson, he gave her a meaningful look, eyes darting between her, Free, and back again. He had always had expressive eyebrows.

But Eruka was too happy to be embarrassed, and with her grin still alighting her face, Eruka scooped Jackson up in her arms and squeezed him till he grunted. "They're going to come, Jackson! We have the souls! All they want is the flower field and 20 candy stars per soul."

"They'd have done it for 10," said Soul, who sat in the sand a short ways away. He had his practice hashbrowns in his lap. "They worship you down there."

"As if I have the time to haggle."

Soul shrugged, digging his fork into a hash brown. "Just sayin'."

Eruka turned back to Jackson. "How are the spells?"

He surveyed the pile of scrolls and herbs he'd amassed in the past several hours. "I'd like to set up a few more, but we're looking good. If you leave me with Free, you can take Soul with you to talk to Maka."

"Deal. Get over here loverboy."

Both Free and Soul paused what they were doing to look at each other. They turned back to Eruka quizzically.

She flushed. "Soul. I meant Soul."

"Sure thing, lovergirl."

"Oh, would you just get over here already?"

…...

The camp that Maka and her warriors stayed at wasn't far, and it wasn't long before the flickering firelight of the campfire came into view. Soul visibly perked up as they grew closer, and Eruka decided it was time to get some details about Soul and Maka's budding romance for Jackson.

Carefully, she turned to Soul with what she hoped was a non-threatening expression.

"So, what do you like about Maka?" she asked innocently.

It seemed, however, that any subtlety on her part was unnecessary as Soul grinned and looked back at her.

"She's sweet and beautiful and jacked," he said readily, the words all but bursting out of him as he spoke with an acute enthusiasm. "She's tough on the outside, and she's wicked smart. But she has something about her that's gentle and fragile." He sighed. "The dichotomy of her is enchanting and she rocks my world."

"Huh," Eruka said. As someone who also admired a beefy physique, she respected his answer. "I never knew you had such a way with words."

"I think I was an artist when I was alive."

"Do you?"

"Yeah, maybe a musician."

"Hm," Eruka hummed. "So, back to Maka. Do you suppose you have a chance with her?"

He seemed to consider her question a moment before answering, tone thoughtful. "She's cautious when it comes to this stuff, but I think she's opening up to me."

"And the, you know, being dead thing?"

Soul did a funny one shoulder shrug. "Honestly, if she even considers me, the dead thing will be no problem."

"Well," said Eruka, eyes on the camp that steadily grew closer. "Let's hope she's open enough to commit treason."

Soul suddenly looked concerned.

Maka was already standing up to welcome them when they arrived at the camp, her arms crossed and her expression set in a frown. While her stance exuded as much strength and confidence as ever, Eruka could tell that something was weighing heavily on the girl. Perhaps it was the faint shadow beneath her eyes that gave it away, or the harsh set of her frown.

Eruka felt Soul visibly tense beside her.

Clearing her throat delicately, Eruka stepped forward to greet Maka. Before she could, however, the warrior held up a hand.

"Stop," said Maka. "Let me speak."

"Oh." Eruka looked at Soul. "Okay."

Maka clenched a fist. "I have struggled with the hold that Maba has had on me for years. I want to be free, and I'm asking you to help me." Her eyes briefly darted to Soul's. "In exchange I-we-will fight for you."

Eruka looked behind Maka to the faces of her weary soldiers. Their hunched shoulders and tired faces were evidence of the toll it took on them to simply think of abandoning their master.

She looked back at Maka. "Actually, I've come to offer you the very same deal. I've brought something that can help you."

Outstretching her hand between them, Eruka's palm spewed out a stream of black that elongated into a staff, than stretch out at one end until it made the blade of a scythe.

Maka examined it with eager eyes, her fingers already moving towards it, as though following an instinctive need.

"This scythe is connected to me," Eruka explained. "If you wield it, it should override Maba's hold and allow you and your team to fight for us." When Maka reached out to grab hold of the weapon, Eruka's hand tightened around it.

"Just know that if you betray me, I will kill you."

Maka smiled before stealing the weapon away from Eruka's hand. She twirled it around in a violent arc, slicing through the air with deadly force.

"You can try."

Eruka eyed Soul, but he was too busy staring dreamily at Maka.

"Well, alright then."

And with that, Maka joined the ranks.

….

The next day, Eruka woke to the sounds of Free's snoring with her face in his armpit. It took a moment for her to remember that today she would go to war, and the reminder had her curling inwardly, a nauseous coil forming in her stomach.

"I think I'm just going to stay here," Eruka muttered to Free, who had woken with a grunt when she'd moved out from under his arm. "Go fight without me."

Free sighed, sitting up. "When you talk like that I don't know if you're serious or not."

"I'm completely serious. You can be Hades now. The floral God of the underworld."

Free wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck affectionately. "Come on, let's get some breakfast in you. You'll feel better after you've eaten."

She didn't feel better after she'd eaten.

In fact, she may have even felt worse. The porridge tasted like cement on her tongue and went down just as easily. Granted, no one else was faring any better, everyone more or less picking at their food.

Soul appeared so lost in thought that he didn't even attempt to pick at his hashbrowns.

"They'll be here soon," Jackson said, his hands cupped around a mug of tea, having forgone breakfast. Eruka wished she had done the same. "Everyone know what they're doing? Do we have everything prepared?" When the group nodded, he sighed, "Then all we have to do is wait."

The moments before the fight were tense. The loudest sound in the room was Maka buckling on her heavy armour, which seemed to shine with an inner light as she shrugged it over her muscular shoulders. She remained close with Soul in the house, her team already waiting in an ambushing position.

"Are you not even going to try?" Maka whispered.

"I've been trying," Soul answered.

"This might be your last chance." Maka reached over to the abandoned plate of hash browns and stabbed two on the prongs. She held it up to Soul. "Try again."

The room quieted as everyone stopped what they were doing to watch the interaction. Even Dog stopped gnawing on Jackson's gardening shovel.

"I can't-"

Maka suddenly leaned forward to kiss the area that Soul's mouth was. He wouldn't have been able to feel it, but he was struck so dumb by the action that when Maka stuffed the fork full of hash browns into his mouth, he immediately swallowed.

As Eruka sat beside Free, her head on his shoulder, she watched them smile excitedly at each other as Jackson cheered and Dog barked, and a grin formed on her face. Maybe they had a chance at having something between them after all.

…...

When the time came, they all left the cabin together.

The souls were already waiting by the shore, and several waved excitedly. Eruka had given them leave to pass the through the river the day before, for the very reason that she wasn't sure she'd be up for much prior to the battle. The large one that acted as leader bent his head in her direction.

Eruka nodded in return as they walked to stand in front of the ghostly army.

"Alright Dog, do your stuff," Free said.

Eruka jerked around just as Dog's small body exploded in rapid growth. He twisted around, his three heads snarling as they got used to their new size. When he finally stopped growing, he stood around 20 feet high.

Maka whirled around. "When you said he got big, you never mentioned this!"

Free shrugged. "Hey, I said he'd be rideable."

"As in a horse, not an elephant!"

"Hush, you two," Jackson scolded. "Maba will be here soon."

Standing several feet in front of them, Eruka breathed in deeply, attempting to calm her nerves as they stood in the cold sands before the river Styx. She felt eerily at peace in the calmness of the battlefield, waiting for Maba and her army to arrive.

As the phantom breeze of the underworld brushed against her face, Eruka could hear the thousands of souls shuffling behind her, murmuring in their haunting speech. It was the only sound in the cavernous expanse of Hades.

"Are you ready?" Free whispered as he came to stand beside her.

"No. Yes." Eruka turned to him with a smile she didn't feel. "To be determined."

Free huffed, shaking his head. "I never know what you're going to say next. Either you've devised a new and creative way to be massively creepy or you go and say something that shows how unbelievably brave you are."

"Brave?"

"Eruka, I can see how scared you are," Free said quietly, reaching out to grasp one of Eruka's trembling hands. "An hour ago you were shaking under the covers and refusing to leave your bed. And yet you're here, leading an army against the strongest God known to man."

Eruka laughed without humour. "And that's bravery?"

"I think true bravery is being scared shitless and doing it anyway," Free murmured, reaching out to wipe a stray tear falling down Eruka's cheek. It did strange things to her heart when he touched her, and she really should be used to it by now.

"Don't be such a sap," she muttered through a smile, scrubbing her cheeks clean with an arm. "People are going to find you creepy."

"Not with you around."

Eruka was laughing genuinely for the first time that day when she felt Jackson tug at her sleeve. When she turned, it was to face Jackson's grim expression.

"I hate to interrupt," he said, and nodded his head towards the entrance, "but Maba's here."

Eruka turned, and sure enough, Maba was walking across the black sand of Hades. She walked with a great staff, but stood a scant four feet, and had a large witch's hat that covered a portion of her face. For now she was alone, but Eruka knew that could change any minute.

From behind her, she could hear Dog trembling in anticipation, as well as the threatening howls of the undead. Free, too, was growling low as he watched Maba.

"I take it you refuse to give up the prisoner?" Maba spoke from a great distance, but when she said the words, Eruka heard them as though they were spoken directly in front of her. She offered a glance to Maka but merely sniffed, as though the sight of her former warrior was beneath her.

"That's correct."

"So be it."

Her staff rose above the ground before she slammed it violently into the sand, shocking through the ground and sending glass spewing upward from the impact. A bolt of lightning thundered down from above, then thousands followed, birthing from the ground with each strike.

Men shaped of fluid glass arose, screaming out their fury into the air. Maba's flesh soldiers were also appearing, stepping out of plumes of black smoke in droves. Unlike the glass men, however, they were hit with the depression every empathetic being experienced when entering the underworld. As they hunched and curled within themselves, the glass warriors charged.

"Are you going to say anything?" Free asked under his breath as they watched their enemy approach.

"Like what?" Eruka hissed back.

"I don't know. Something encouraging, like why we're here."

"To save my booty call?"

"For the love of-" Free sighed. "Eruka, after this we are going to have a serious talk about boundaries outside the bedroom."

"Promise?" Eruka asked, eyes set on the hissing glass people. Her legs began to shake beneath her gown. Wordlessly, she reached for Free's hand and squeezed it quickly.

As though sensing her unease, Free's tone gentled. "Yeah," he said, squeezing her hand back. "We'll all go home and Jackson will make us breakfast. Soul can finally eat his hash browns, Dog will slobber all over everyones feet under the table, Maka'll give Soul a break, and we can find out brand new ways for you to be creepy."

50 metres.

"I want that. I want everyone to be safe."

He smiled. "They will be. We'll make sure of it."

40.

"Free?"

"Yeah?"

30.

She turned to face him, eyes wide. "I love you."

25.

Free's own eyes widened, and his mouth opened to respond-

BOOM!

In the distance, a glass man had just stepped across an invisible line, setting off a giant bomb of purple and blue smoke. Jagged pieces of glass shot through the air from shattered bodies, flying just short of the underworld army.

"FOR HADES!" shouted Eruka, tearing her eyes away from Free. She sprinted ahead, towards the charging enemies, before her fear could freeze her feet. "FOR OUR HOME!"

Billowing black smoke escaped the earth around Eruka, curling around her and lifting her over the scant distance remaining between her and the glass warriors. Her bare toes felt the wind brought on by the speed of her descent before she crashed into the sand, sending waves of it spraying around her.

More glass whistled through the air as the smoke crushed her foes, several pieces cutting into her flesh. She ignored the sting as she fought, guiding the darkness like a deadly whip.

From the corner of her eye she noticed that some of the glass men had ducked around the tendrils to launch themselves at her, a roiling mass of sharp crystal and cold snarls. Just as they arrived with swords raised, Jackson swooped in with his satchel of scrolls and spells around his waist, releasing a potion and hurling it at the oncoming enemies.

Nodding her thanks, Eruka continued forward, light on her feet. Maba was the only thing on her mind-as soon as she went down, then everything would be over.

As Eruka ran, hundreds of souls joined her, brushing against her arm as they passed her, charging the last of the crystal humanoids. The bodies crunched and curled under the force of the souls.

"Go!" one paused to say. "We will deal with these things."

"Thank you," Eruka gasped.

"Eruka!"

She turned her head and was met by one of Dog's massive heads, panting happily at her. One head shoved the other away so it could nose at her with such force that he had her stumbling.

He farted, sending several enemies behind him flying.

"Up here!" Soul sat behind Maka on top of Dog's back. He beckoned to her until Eruka ran forward, taking his hand and allowing him to pull her up behind them. "We'll get you closer to Maba."

"You ran off before we could join you," Maka admonished from the front as Dog took off in one great leap, stomping on enemies without a care. Eruka let out a surprised "eep!" and quickly searched for something to hold on to.

Maka used her scythe in a swinging arc to decapitate several passing enemies before she turned back to continue, "While admirable, you went in the completely wrong direction."

"Sorry!" Eruka called over the wind, hanging onto Soul. "If I hadn't gone then I'm not sure I would have gone at all!"

"Well, whatever works," Maka said with a shrug. "We can get you past these wretched crystal things and to the real soldiers. After that, Maba shouldn't be too far!"

Eruka eyed the weapon gripped expertly in Maka's hand, as though it always belonged there. "How's the scythe working for you?"

Maka looked back with a smirk as she twirled the weapon around her wrist once, the blade whistling through the air in a dangerous arc as it scored through several bodies. "I think we'll get along just fine."

Dog barked as he bounded towards a figure ravaging through Maba's soldiers, his rippling muscles heaving as he snarled through wicked fangs. With a stomp of his foot, scores of soldiers were tangled by angry vines, constricting around them till they were buried in the ground and red flowers bloomed above their graves.

Hello, Free.

Dog skidded to a halt just before him, and when Free turned around, it was to greet them with a garrish grin. Eruka hadn't known werewolves could smile.

"Found her, did you?" Free asked, his tone only slightly more gravelly than his usual one. With help from Soul, Eruka slid down Dog's side onto the sand below. When she wavered from the landing, Free was there to catch her.

"We'll move along the left with my warriors in an attempt to flank their soldiers," Maka called, her voice clear and strong among the sounds of carnage around them. "Good luck finding Maba!"

And then Maka, Soul, and Dog bounded off down the line, tearing down enemies in their wake.

Eruka turned to face the bloody werewolf in her arms. "Free, about what I-"

Free lifted her from the ground, twisting her away from a soldier's swinging blade. "Later," he promised. "No time for declarations on the battlefield!"

As he turned away, the enemy who had attacked her burst open with bloodied flowers, curling around his skull and through his eyes. Eruka pushed the mess away with a force of shadow and took her place beside Free.

Bodies quickly replaced the ones he had buried, charging in a symphony of triumphant cries. Eruka swept half aside, and Free dove at the other half with a snarl, clawing through armour, skin, and bone.

The fighting continue for some time, or at least it seemed that way, for time seemed to simultaneously speed up and slow down on the battlefield. The only true measure of it was the piling of the bodies around them. Just as it seemed that the end may be near, that they were winning - as unfathomable that seemed - Maba appeared in the distance. She was a crouched, defeated body partly hidden by her remaining men.

"She's there!" Eruka cried to Free.

The hooded figure turned slowly, a hateful expression on her wrinkled face. With a sneer, Maba raised her bony claw towards them and hissed. A bolt of lightening left her palm, bright and powerful as it raced forwards.

The bolt struck through the air and through Free's chest, searing a hole in his torso before she could even attempt to react. The smell of burnt flesh was the first thing to register in Eruka's mind.

As his body fell with a thud into the flowers beneath him, sound ceased to exist and the world narrowed in on his bloodied form. Eruka felt numb as she looked upon him, wide-eyed and unable to breathe.

The beat of her heart was loud in her ear as she looked to Maba. Slowly, the sound of screaming registered, and it took a moment longer for Eruka to realize that it was her.

Blackness formed around her in great torrents, rising up and pushing away enemies until all that laid before her was Maba.

"You hurt him," she hissed, feeling her blood boil; blackness consumed any enemy that dared get between her and Maba.

Maba tripped backwards, eyes wide.

"Hades!" she shouted. "You answer to me!"

"HE WAS MINE!"

Eruka slammed the darkness into Maba, watched in satisfaction as she was sent flying backwards through black sand.

"I WAS ABOUT TO BE HIS!"

"Hades-Eruka, let's talk about this. I taught you magic in the coven!"

"YOU DARE TAKE HIM FROM ME? TAKE MY HOME FROM ME?"

The darkness circled around Maba, nearly overtaking her before Maba forced it back with lightning. She looked up and snarled at Eruka.

"You will die today," Eruka told Maba, her hair flying about her face with the force of her power. "And I will not mourn you."

Finally, unable to hold back the force of Eruka's dark magic, Maba's power was defeated. She screamed in agony as it bypassed the fading electricity and licked up her body, over her arms and into her mouth. It trailed over her skin, into every orifice until her wails ended, and all that was left was darkness and the ringing remains of her screams as she was swallowed whole.

And just like that, it was over.

The black tendrils fell limp and faded back into the black sand. Eruka fell with them, her strength failing her as she wilted down onto a pile of peonies-which immediately shriveled upon contact.

"Eruka!"

Distantly, she felt herself being lifted bodily into a warm embrace as large, calloused hands cupped her cheek. "Free?" she mumbled. "You're alive?"

"Eruka, oh thank the Gods."

She looked up at him blearily, reaching up with her hand to touch his bloodstained face, once again human. "You're not gonna kiss me are you?"

He laughed in breathless amusement. "I think I can control myself."

"How are you alive?" she asked. "I saw her hit you."

Free leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I'm immortal, you silly goose. Had you forgotten?" he frowned then, serious. "You didn't bump your head did you?"

She shook her head. "No, I remember now. It's just… seeing you hit was... not pleasant."

"Well, watching you collapse wasn't great, either."

Eruka grunted as she carefully sat up with Free's help. She looked around at the carnage. "So is it over?"

Free nodded. "The rest of the soldiers disappeared after you defeated Maba, not that there were many left."

"Is everyone okay?"

"You can ask them yourself," Free said, nodded to a spot beyond her head. "They're all running this way now."

Eruka groaned, rubbing her eyes. "How long do I have?"

"I'd say a minute if you're lucky."

"I love you," Eruka said, looking up at Free. "I know I said it before the fight, but I want to say it now just so you know it wasn't a just because thing and I-"

Free's finger silenced Eruka's lips. "Shh, shh, I know. If anything, you've always been painfully honest about your feelings-and don't give me that look, it's not a bad thing."

"But-!"

"I love you too," Free interrupted.

"Wha-" Eruka's face warmed to a deep red. "Really?"

"Yes, and if you had've let me speak I would have showered you with endless vows by now, but our moment is about to get crashed by the tagalongs."

Eruka frowned. "...Will you say them later?"

Free just grinned crookedly as Soul, Maka, Dog, Jackson, and the souls all hurried towards them.

"Eruka! Free!"

"We did it!"

Fart.

"We won! Did you see Maka? She was amazing!"

Eruka slouched down against Free. The thought of having to deal with everyone suddenly seemed exhausting. "I don't want to talk to them until I've slept at least 6 hours."

"Close your eyes, then," Free said quietly. "I'll tell them you're asleep and carry you home." And so he did, bypassing all the curious and worried voices with the excuse that she was simply asleep.

It wasn't long, however, until the lie became truth as Eruka fell asleep within the muscular, thick, juicy arms she'd dreamed of for years.


	4. Epilogue

Eruka collapsed into the sand, her bag of trash tossed aside. "I'm done," she announced. "I can't do it anymore. I'll live with getting glass stuck in my feet forever."

Jackson frowned down at her, arms set at his hips. "You've already pushed cleaning up the dead humans to the souls, some of which, might I add, are down here now." He paused, looking over to the souls shuffling around in the distance. "Is that...ethical?"

"I don't care," Eruka muttered. "I'm done. We've been doing this for hours."

As agreed, the non-dangerous souls were allowed to leave the Styx. They even agreed to perform some chores in exchange for rainbow star candy. Eruka had also kept up her promise to visit more often, and even played chess with the large soul leader every Tuesday.

"You're the one we're doing this for," Jackson said, nudging her with his garbage tongs. "You and your bare toes."

She wiggled them at him. "At this point I can't even  _feel_  my toes."

"Alright, then," Jackson sighed. "We'll take a break."

After the war, Jackson had moved on to lunches. He'd said it was a natural progression. Over one-thousand years, he'd cooked every breakfast possible, after all.

From her place planted firmly in a soft chair, Eruka watched him cook up burgers. Even with all his complaining, she could tell he was happier. Until it was gone, she hadn't realized how much of a toll Maba's control had had on him. On both of them.

"I want to thank you " Eruka said. "For everything."

Jackson looked at her in surprised, eyebrows high up on his forehead and a small smile on his face. "Where'd this come from?"

"I just want you to know that I appreciate you. You  _should_  know. You should've known this whole time," Eruka said. "And I haven't told you enough."

"I have known, Eruka," Jackson said warmly, a faint blush on his cheeks. "I appreciate you, too."

Ignoring her aching feet, Eruka rose shakily and wobbled over to hug Jackson. She squeezed him tightly until he grunted, but when she went to release him, his own arms wrapped around her and refused to let go for several seconds. When Jackson finally pushed away, he was blinking heavily and wiping under his eyes with a watery smile. "Alright then, enough of this. I need to finish lunch before Soul and Maka leave."

Eruka had fashioned a spell for Soul that allowed him to leave the underworld, in part connected to the scythe which Maka now wielded. Jackson had been equal parts devastated and ecstatic over the news that Maka and Soul were going off together-both happy for Soul, and sad to see him go. He'd grown awfully close with Soul over the past few weeks.

Soul and Maka had also been reluctant to leave, but almost immediately following Maba's demise, Maka had felt a calling within her chest to go to Olympus. That, and she'd begun to shock everyone in her path with a painful amount of static electricity.

It was a clear indication that she would soon become the next Zeus.

Jackson placed two burgers lovingly into a lunchbox and surrounded them with carrots and sugar snap peas from his garden. "They need their veggies," he told Eruka, lip quivering. "It's a long trip to Olympus."

"Yes they do," said Eruka. "Come on, let's go say goodbye."

Together they walked out the door to where Soul and Maka stood waiting, shoulder to shoulder.

"Are you ready?" Eruka asked, as Jackson walked over to hand them the lunchbox he'd personally carved.

"Yes," said Maka. She looked up at Eruka, expression serious. "I'm nervous, but hopeful. If what you say is true…" Maka shook her head with a breathless laugh. "I can't even imagine. Thank you for everything you've done."

"I should be thanking you," Eruka nodded to Soul, "taking this rascal off my hands."

Soul grinned razor-sharp teeth at her, right before reaching to pull her into a hug.

" _Thank you._ "

"Okay, if one more person thanks me today I'm going to vomit." Despite her words, Eruka squeezed Soul back briefly before pushing him back towards Maka. "Go on with you! Go adventure and take over Olympus. Whatever it is kids do these days."

"We'll write!"

"You'd better!" wailed Jackson, magicking a handkerchief into the air and blowing his nose loudly.

….

Later, Eruka found Free hanging around his usual spot by the pomegranate trees. The area had turned into a floral wonderland, with hanging blossoms and curling vines. It boasted thousands of different colours, vines, and petals, all curling around each other in a mass orgy of petals. The cacophony of perfumes was almost dizzying.

Free sat in the middle of it all, Dog at his side as he cut into a piece of wood with a dagger.

"You missed saying goodbye to Soul and Maka," she said

Free's eyes darted up to her, a welcoming smile flickering on his face. "They dropped by on their way out. I figured it would be better if you dealt with Jackson's breakdown on your own."

Eruka sighed as she sank down on a rock beside him, the flowers on the rock curling away from her in blackened husks. "He's devastated," she said. "We sat on his bed until he cried himself to sleep. He gets so attached."

"And how are you doing?" Free asked, blowing away wood chips from his carving. Jackson had begun to teach him wood carving. Unfortunately, he was absolutely awful and no one had the heart to tell him. It didn't stop Eruka from loving and hoarding every single carving he gave her.

Eruka laid down against Free, her head cushioned on his bicep as she tangled her hands through his arm. "I'm okay. I'm happy for them."

"And are  _you_  happy?" Free asked.

Eruka turned to balance her chin on his shoulder, lips twitching. "What do you think?"

Free returned her smile, leaning over to kiss her puckered lips affectionately.

She found she loved him more each day, that time only deepened the feeling of warmth she found in his arms. Her sudden infatuation for him, she realized now, was only a fragile sort of affection. What they now had between them was slowly growing into a deep love that went beyond the physical.

"What are you carving?" she asked, leaning down to rub one of Dog's ears.

"One of your boobs."

To love was a wonderful feeling.


End file.
